Sword Art Online: Re
by ProdigalSnake
Summary: Sword Art Online Aincrad Arc reloaded from the very beginning. The game 'Sword Art Online' is drastically different, being much harder and including magic. The entire arc retold with no time skips, a balanced Kirito, well-developed characters, new game mechanics and much more!
1. Preview

**Preview**

 **I think if there's one thing all of us SAO fans can agree on is the amount of wasted potential the Aincrad Arc had, so this fanfic is going to try to tap into and uncover that wasted potential. However to do so there will be many changes, here are some things you guys can expect as you read this:**

 **-The game itself will have some drastic and impactful changes; one of which is the inclusion of magic, more skills and much more. So if you are not looking for a piece of work that will change the original story a lot then this may not be the story for you.**

 **-I will write the story with the assumption that you guys aren't adept MMORPG players, so there will be a fair bit of explanations, however, fear not, there won't be huge exposition dumps (at least not too many XD).**

 **-There won't be a harem since I felt that was very distracting and unnecessary. I will, however, keep the Kirito and Asuna pairing and develop it much more.**

 **-No more infuriating and random huge time skips.**

 **-I will try to cover all 100 floors**

 **-I do not guarantee the usage of the complete original cast, especially the female characters who were just there to fill up Kirito's harem party**

 **-Klein and Agil will remain though :D**

 **-This will only be a revamp of the first arc and I have no intentions of including ANYTHING from beyond that (sorry to you Shinon and Suguha fans)**

 **-The story will start from the very beginning and I will try to capture the serious tone the anime had set when it began.**

 **If you have any suggestions, thoughts or comments on anything, don't hesitate to leave a review; I'm always interested in what my readers think and they are greatly appreciated!**

 ***I do not own Sword Art Online or any of its characters.**


	2. Genesis

**Chapter 1 – Genesis**

 _October 31, 2022_

" _The VRMMORPG Sword Art Online has been the most anticipated title for the past 4 years ever since its announcement and needless to say, it has not disappointed! It has received some of the highest ratings we've ever seen by IGN and is expected to win multiple awards this year! The first 10 000 copies on today's initial release have already been completely sold out within the hour! Our sources have confirmed that some of these gamers have been camping outside for nearly three whole days awaiting the game's release. Now an interview with the lead developer, would you please welcome the talented and amazing...Kayaba Akihiko!_ "

"Brother, I'm off to practice!" yelled Sugaha from downstairs as she headed off to her kendo practice.

Kirigaya Kazuto put down the game manual in his hand and switched off the stream on his computer. Ever since the initial conference announcing the release of Sword Art Online, he's been staying away from anything that might spoil the game for him. The way Kayaba described the game kept him up that night, and he almost immediately applied to be a beta tester. Miraculously, out of the 100 000 people who volunteered, he was chosen as one of the 1000 beta testers. Once he felt what it was like to be in that other world, the world of Aincrad, nothing in the real one has ever compared.

He checked over the NerveGear one last time to make sure everything was hooked up properly and laid down on his bed. He gave his limbs one last stretch, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was at that point that he could no longer keep it in, a smile made its way onto his face and the excitement began to make his heart pump. He will once again get to immerse himself in that fantasy world.

"Link start."

His empty consciousness began filling up with multicolored stars and, suddenly, as if he was in a wormhole, he began to whiz past them at the speed of light. When he opened up his eyes again he was in the middle of a colosseum. He looked around and clenched his fist as he tested his movement and control. Perfect.

"I'm finally back."

As he exited the colosseum, where all first-time players spawned at, he was greeted with an amazing scenery. The streets were filled with players, all with different looks, some looked intimidating with war paint and scars decorating their faces and some looked handsome with aesthetics that had to have taken a long time to perfect. Merchant NPCs (Non-Player Characters) were trying their best to sell the weapons, armors, and information they had to the new adventurers. The market was booming with players trying to barter and crafty merchants giving the naïve players a rotten deal. The bards were in the streets singing and playing their music as loud as they could. Songs of old heroes and their tales, of gods and monsters, and of legends and treasures. Fireworks bloomed in the sky beside the large digital letter that proclaimed: "Welcome to Sword Art Online, to the world of Aincrad!"

Kirito was dying to try out the combat system but he had the self-restraint to control himself from just going into a spawn field and start slaying monsters randomly. The first thing he did was finding quest givers who were offering Kill Quests and Collect Quests. Kill Quest are quests where you have to defeat a certain number of the same opponent and Collect Quests are quests where you are tasked with finding a certain number of objects. They work well hand-in-hand when you are collecting a specific loot drop from the monsters you are killing.

After filling up pages and pages of his Quest Journal, which tracks all the quests he has accepted, Kirito finally set out into the first big spawn field outside the city. It was miles and miles of plain grass fields with waves of hills of different sizes. It spawned the typical beginner monsters such as slimes, boars, and wolves. Along with the Area Leaders such as the Giant Slime, the Red-Tusked Boar and the Alpha Wolf who were significantly stronger than the normal monsters they lead. These types of monsters only spawned once every few hours but, if successfully slain, will grant the killer a buff against the type of monsters they lead.

In a normal MMORPG, new players would not be able to take on these Area Leaders due to the simple lack of raw stats, however, Sword Art Online was a high skill cap game where game mechanics can surpass stats to a certain degree. Dodging, for example, is something the system does not aid the player with. A player with high DEX (dexterity) stat might have a lighter body and be able to dodge easier but it is still something the player has to consciously do. On the other hand, a player with the knowledge of the opponent's attack patterns and good reaction time may be able to dodge attacks with the same effectiveness as someone who has the raw stat.

Having played the beta version of the game, Kirito went to his favorite place to farm. Farming is a tactic where a player performs repetitive actions to gain EXP (experience), loot or in-game currency. The place was a little bit further away from the city which meant his precious loot and prey wasn't going to be stolen by anyone. Although it was slightly more dangerous since he would not be in range for anyone to help him, the risk was worth the reward since he knew some people would wait to steal the last hit to collect half the EXP and all of the loot. Another advantage of this location was the geography, there were two big hills which created a narrow trough in between which was exactly what Kirito needed. Finally, this was where the Red-Tusked Boar, the Area Leader of the boars, spawned.

' _Killing the three Area Leaders will be my first objective, that'll speed up the farming process and should get me miles ahead of everyone else in terms of Level,_ ' thought Kirito as he approached the red-furred beast. ' _First, I'm going to have to draw his aggression then lead him into that trough where I'll corner him and finish him off._ '

Monster aggression in SAO is focused towards the closest and most recent player who attacked it and will continue until the player leaves its area. The Red-Tusked Boar differs from the regular boar in three ways; one, it is twice as large, two, its tusk reaches twice as long and finally...

Kirito picked up a small rock and threw it at the monster. "Come and get me," yelled Kirito as he began to run towards the trough. The Red-Tusked Boar differs from the regular boar in three ways; one, it is twice as large, two, its tusk reaches twice as long and finally, it's five times as fast. The now angry beast roared and charged at Kirito, "They buffed its speed?!" The Red-Tusked Boar caught up in no time and made a clean hit which sent Kirito flying. Making a split moment decision, Kirito decided to jump slightly to avoid getting impaled by the beast's tusks, although this move saved him from instant death, the hit costed him more than half of his HP (hit/health points).

' _Damn, I shouldn't have been so arrogant. It should have been obvious they would make tweaks to the game compared to the beta. Should I drink a potion? No, that thing would kill me before I could even swallow the whole thing. The potions in this game also don't heal you instantly, instead, it's a slow heal over time._ ' Kirito got up and pulled out his starter sword, "Oh well, I guess I'll just do it the hard way."

The giant boar charged at Kirito for the second time but this time he was prepared for it and quickly tumbled to the right to dodge the charging monster. ' _The faster an object moves, the harder it is for it to suddenly change directions._ ' A smile made its way onto his face as the adrenaline pumped through his veins. One wrong move and it's game over. The giant boar turned around and charged once more and missed once more. Kirito did this a few more times to gauge the beast's speed and got ready to make his move.

The beast charged but this time instead of tumbling, Kirito chose to spin to the right to dodge while at the same time landing a counter attack on the red-furred boar. His sword cut into the monster's skin and its own speed made the cut much bigger. Kirito's confidence grew bigger as his beginner iron sword tasted blood for the first time. He continued his dance with the Red-Tusked Boar and wore it down slowly. However, just as the beast's HP hit 10% an arrow struck it at its side.

' _What? Where did that come from?_ ' thought Kirito as he looked around and spotted another player equipped with a bow. The other player was trying to steal the kill but failed to finish off the monster and instead drew its aggression. Before the archer could even react, the Red-Tusked Boar made contact and sent him flying just as he did with Kirito. The archer lost grip of his bow and was now defenseless against the monster's next attack.

' _Serves you right, trying to steal my kill like that,_ ' thought Kirito as he watched the archer start panicking.

"Help! Please help me! I can't move!" yelled the archer as the boar prepared for his next charge.

' _Getting hit by the boar's tusks must have stunned him I guess._ '

"Please, I'm sorry! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" The archer's scream sent a chill down Kirito's spine and for a second it felt real as if it wasn't a game anymore and the archer was really going to get killed by that monster. Kirito gritted his teeth and ran to help the archer. But he acted too late and by the time he got there the boar had already begun its charge.

"Just saying, I don't usually do this for male players," he said jokingly. However, his current situation was nothing to be joked about, ' _Dammit, what do I do?! If I dodge this guy is going to get trampled, but if I don't, I might just get one-hit killed. Can I alter the boar's direction somehow? No, his weight is too high and my STR (strength) stat isn't nearly high enough. Shit! Is my first death really going to be trying to save this idiot who tried to steal my kill?!_ ' The distance between him and the Red-Tusked Boar closed quickly and Kirito still didn't have a solution.

"[Fireball]."

Just as the beast came within 20 meters of them, a ball of fire hit the front right leg of the monster and crippled it. The red-furred monster roared in pain and its body collapsed slightly into its injured leg. Kirito saw the opportunity and tumbled forward from its left side, where it's tusk was slightly raised due to the boar's new body position, and stuck his blade into the giant boar's stomach. The cut was deep but the red-furred beast wasn't able to stop due to his pre-built momentum and dragged Kirito across the ground as he held onto his blade. Finally, the Red-Tusked Boar succumbed to his wounds and fell sideways to the ground.

Kirito finally released his grip on the sword and breathed a sigh of relief. The Red-Tusked Boar's body disappeared into a thousand shards of pixels and a game window pops up in Kirito's field of view:

 _You have Leveled Up!_

 _New Title Gained!_

 _You have slain [The Red-Tusked Boar]_

 _+5092 EXP_

 _+2049 Cor_

 _+Item:_

 _[The Red-Tusked Horn]: Once a day, by equipping this item, you can attract the aggression of nearby monsters. (Duration 5 minutes)_

As Kirito read through the display, a cloaked figure walked up and looked down at him through the transparent display. "Are you an idiot?" said the cloaked figure in a deadpan voice.

"What do you mean?" asked Kirito as he sat up.

"What were you trying to do, running in front of the boar like that? Feed it a double kill?"

"I…I had a plan..." stammered Kirito as he tried to come up with what to say next.

"Right. At the very least I can't deny that you are lucky for surviving that."

"And skilled right?" said Kirito as he reenacted his tumble slash.

The cloaked player paused for a moment. "No, just lucky." And continued walking.

"Well I want to at least thank you for saving both of us," said a discouraged Kirito as he caught up to the cloaked player. He navigated through his menu and a bag of Cor appeared in his hand.

"Keep it," said the cloaked player. "MMORPGs are supposed to be about working together anyways. If everybody played like that archer, I wouldn't even be able to imagine how horrible this community would be."

"Then can I at least know your name? I'm usually a solo player but the game seems to have become significantly harder compared to the beta, and you seem like a good player."

"Merlin," said the cloaked player as he removed his hood. He had the default male face preset with light blue bowl-cut hairstyle and was a fair bit shorter than Kirito. His eyes were purple and he wore the same expression as his voice tone.

"Oh…nice to meet you, I'm Kirito," said Kirito as he sent the friend request.

"I can tell what you are thinking, and the answer is: no. I did not accidentally skip over the character customization step, this was a conscious decision."

"Why didn't you change anything from the default apart from the eye color?"

"I did."

"What did you change?" asked a confused Kirito as he took one more look at his new plain companion.

"I have a double eyelid, the default was a single."

"Out of all the options, you chose to change that?!"

"To be honest this in-game look could have been anything, my real life look just attracts too much unwanted attention and I wanted something plain and simple so that I can just enjoy the game in peace."

' _I wonder what he looks like in real life that he would want to look like anything but that._ '

"Now you're probably wondering what I look like in real life," said Merlin which made Kirito stop right in his track.

' _Is he reading my mind?_ '

"And no I'm not reading your mind, you are just that predictable," said Merlin as he sighed. "You know despite this look, in real life…I'm actually a cute 17-year-old high school girl."

"Wow, it's usually the other way around."

"If you don't believe me watch," said Merlin as he turned towards a slime that was sliding by them.

"K-Kyaa Kirito, it's a monster. Save me," said Merlin emotionlessly as he waved both arms up and down. "See?"

"Is that your interpretation of a cute 17-year-old high school girl?!" Before Kirito could correct his misguided friend, Merlin pointed his finger at the slime and blasted it with fire.

"Wait, did you just use magic?" asked Kirito astounded.

"Yeah, what's so surprising about magic being in a fantasy MMORPG?"

"It's just that they didn't even have ranged weapons in the beta, let alone magic…" said Kirito as he drifted into his thoughts about how he wanted to build his character now.

"You don't have to worry too much about it, it's a standard casting system with mana being the cost of spells," said Merlin as she ignited a small ball of fire in her hand. "I heard from the merchant, from whom I bought this spell from, that there are different types and elements of magic. But he only had this one fire spell for sale, I'm guessing there will be more as we move up the Floors."

"Do you mind partying with me for a while? I want to see those spells up close and in combat," said Kirito excitingly. "There are also two more Area Leaders and it'll be much easier if we take it on together."

"I don't mind partying up but I would give up on the other two Area Leaders. From what I've heard the Alpha Wolf was solo killed by a guy called Jax, by the sounds of it, he's even crazier than you. And the Giant Slime is apparently un-killable because it heals off of the small slimes by combining with them."

Kirito tried to suggest a few plans but they were all shut down by the cold rationality of Merlin. Finally, he relented and sighed disappointingly and the two of them spent the rest of the day completing their individual quests. Kirito took a break as he stuck his sword into the ground and watched the first sunset over Aincrad. It was a jaw-dropping scenery, the orange sunset glow covered the luscious green forest that stretched on. Floating islands in the air created a tiered fountain that ended with a giant waterfall into a clear lake. The water vapor rose and the sun's light passed through them creating a beautiful sever-colored arc over the lake.

"The game changed a lot, but this scenery is as beautiful as ever," said Kirito as he leaned onto his sword and enjoyed the view.

"Hmm I wonder how long we've been playing and if the flow of time here matches up with the one in the real world," said Merlin as he looked through the displays to try and find the time in the real world. "I think I should probably get off soon or else my parents will get worried."

"Alright, I'll see you later then."

"Yeah."

Kirito continued to stare at the beautiful scenery but after a few moments had passed, he noticed that Merlin was still there.

"Kirito."

"Yeah?"

"How do you log off?" said Merlin as he pointed at his interface.

"What do you mean? It's literally right there…" Kirito scrolled through his interface but couldn't find it either. "Maybe they are running into some technical difficulties, but something as big as this should be fixed pretty soon or they'll just force log off everyone on the server."

The moment Kirito finished his sentence, the central bell in the city rang and resonated throughout the huge area surrounding it. The two players heard it and suddenly the clouds felt like they were moving faster and the glare of the sun seemed to have increased until the light swallowed them up. When they reopened their eyes they were back at the colosseum where they first spawned.

"What's happening?"

"Is there an event going on or something?"

"This is so sick!"

Every player of SAO was being summoned, some people were confused but most people were excited for the possibility of a game launch massive event. Once the summoning call was complete, the sky turned blood red and a giant figure cloaked in the same color appeared in front of them.

"I have a bad feeling about this," said Merlin showing a hint of fear and emotion for the first time.

" _ **I am Kayaba Akihiko…and I welcome you…to my world."**_

* * *

 **Author's Note: If you enjoyed the first chapter, please leave a review to show a sign that someone is out there reading this! Also, tell me what you guys think of Merlin or maybe something that you would like to see in future chapters. On a side note, the finale of the fight scene with the Red-Tusked Boar was inspired from the movie 47 Ronin (if you were wondering XD).**

 **BenFiremonk: WOW I can't believe there's a review even before the first chapter! Thank you so much, this actually motivated me to stay up till 5 AM to get this released as soon as I could. Anyway, my opinion on SAO is that it's not good. I believe that it was a good idea that was executed poorly (too much Kirito being a god, time skips, lack of character development, etc.), however, I enjoyed the Aincrad Arc anyways because of the beautiful animation, fight scenes and the romance between Kirito and Asuna. Looking at it critically it wasn't good but I don't watch animes critically so I enjoyed it anyways :P**


	3. Revelation

**Chapter 2 – Revelation**

"Brother, dinner is ready!" yelled Sugaha from downstairs. "How is he still playing that game?"

"You know him, he's always been like this. Infatuated and completely focused on the things that interest him."

"I'll go up and get him then," Sugaha sighed as she got up from her chair and walked up the stairs to the second floor.

Meanwhile, her mom decided to turn on the TV and browse through the news for today. " _Investigations have revealed that the man behind the virtual hostage situation in the new and popular game Sword Art Online is none other than the lead developer Kayaba Akihiko. Law enforcements have yet been able to find the suspect. Our experts are currently at work in trying to log out all the players currently playing. In the meantime, if your son, daughter, or someone you know is currently playing the game, do NOT, I repeat, do NOT, forcibly remove the NerveGear from their head. Doing so will cause irreparable damage to the player's brain through the emission of high-powered microwaves._ " The image of players getting carried out onto an ambulance was shown and for a second the terrible message rang deft in the ears of Kirito's mother. " _Once again, if your son, daughter, or someone you know is currently playing the game, do NOT forcibly remove the NerveGear and contact your local hospital immediately._ "

"SUGAHA!" she yelled as she followed up the stairs as fast as possible and found her just about to pull off the NerveGear. "DON'T!"

"W-What's wrong mom? You're scaring me..."

"Your brother..." she said as her eyes teared up.

"My brother? Is something wrong with Kazuto?!"

She fell to her knees and covered her mouth, "He's trapped."

* * *

The world was a blur. A surge of overwhelming anxiety and fear gripped him as he dropped the mirror item Kayaba Akihiko had given them from his shaking hands. The mirror broke into several shards of glass which reflected his now real life look. His heart pounded faster and faster as he looked around and saw everyone in a panic state. Some were in despair, some tried desperately to log out, and others cried.

' _I'm…going to die…?_ ' His heartbeat pounded harder and louder as he started having trouble breathing.

"Kirito, Kirito?!"

' _I'm going to die._ '

"Kirito, take a deep breath and calm down."

"I don't want to die!" said Kirito as he turned to Merlin, however, the person there was no longer Merlin but a random purple haired girl in an all-over waves style with matching eyes.

"I know, which is why we need to calm down first and figure out what to do next," said the purple haired girl. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Wait…Merlin?" asked a shocked Kirito, now for a different reason.

"Yeah, didn't I tell you I was a 17-year-old girl?" said Merlin with the same indifferent voice.

"I thought you were joking, I thought you were a guy for sure…are you really Merlin?"

"Geez, thanks. Since you've calmed down now, can we please focus?"

"I'm amazed you're able to remain so calm…" said Kirito, amazed by his partner.

"Yeah…calm…" said Merlin as she tried to get a grip of her shaking hands.

' _Of course she's shaking, how can anybody be calm in this situation?_ ' thought Kirito as he noticed her shaking hands. ' _The best we can do for now is try out best to rationally plan out our next steps._ '

"Okay, okay, let's see...If we want to power level ahead we should head onto the next town since the level of the monsters here is no longer going to give us a significant amount of EXP," said Kirito as he pulled out his map. In SAO, as the player explores, their map will update automatically and, if the player so chooses, the map can be shared with the rest of the player base. "In the beta test there's a town called Cap Town in the forest region here, it spawns some grass type monsters such as Leaf Sprout, although they are a bit higher level we should be fine with your fire magic."

"Are you sure we shouldn't wait for outside help?"

"Kayaba Akihiko was a lead developer in Argus, the company that made Sword Art Online and the NerveGear. He was regarded as a genius and a revolutionary in the field of virtual reality. I doubt anybody in this world would be able to do anything anytime soon if he had four whole years, perhaps more, to develop this plan," said Kirito as he recalled the article he had read just before diving. "We shouldn't sit here and do nothing. Who knows what kind of drastic measure he will take if none of us plays his game. On top of that, if other players get ahead of us and take the good spots to farm, it'll make our life a lot harder."

"Very well, then we should at least gather some more people first, especially a tank or a healer, it will make me feel a lot better about this."

"We can't! If we get any more people in our party, the EXP is going to be divided into too many portions and it will become highly ineffective." When players form a party, the EXP, Cor, and loot from the monsters killed by any of the party members are shared with the whole party.

"Kirito, you said it yourself that this game has become much harder than the one you played in beta. So are you telling me that you're willing to begin gambling with your life as early as the First Floor? Despite your vast knowledge as the strongest beta tester, a single change to a monster's skill, a single misstep, and you'll never see the real world again!"

Kirito frustratingly bit his tongue, despite the drawbacks, he knew the risks far outweighs the reward. "Alright fine, but only one or two more."

Merlin breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thank you for listening to reason. Now, do you have any idea where we could find some good party members?"

"The Adventurer's Hall is where people go to look for a party, that'll be the best place to start."

"Lead the way."

* * *

The Adventurer's Hall was one of the biggest buildings in the city and it was a place where parties could pick up members to fill in a role. A player looking for a party to join would simply fill out an application and parties would easily be able to find someone with the right fit. Likewise, parties can fill out a similar application highlighting what kind of players they are looking to recruit and players can apply to join.

By the time the mage and the swordsman got there, the Adventurer's Hall was already in a state of chaos. The hall was jam-packed with everybody pushing and shoving to get some breathing room. Parties were arguing over which members to pick. They even began fighting each other over the top prospects. Meanwhile, the lower-leveled beginners were neglected and had nowhere to go. Some begged higher level players to include them but they were only tossed aside. If despair and terror could be painted, that would have been the picture.

"Dammit we're not going to get anything done here," said Kirito as he witnessed the scene. If anything, this would delay them even further and may even get them hurt. "Let's get out of-"

"Hey! Are you looking for a party right now?!" shouted a man in his late twenties. He was short yet solidly built with sienna, spiky hair and a goatee. He ran right over to them and grabbed onto Merlin's arm. "Guys! I found two strong ones! Now let's ditch these fools and get on to the next town!"

"Let go of me!" said Merlin as she struggled out of his grip. "We're not interested."

"What the hell are you talking about?! If you think you are going to find a better party you are sadly mistaken!"

"Dude, back up! She said we're not interested!" said Kirito as he pushed the man back.

"What did you say?" said the man as he cocked his eyebrow angrily and reached for his sword. Instinctively Kirito did the same and all of a sudden tension level rose through the roof.

Before things got uglier, a 6'6 massive and bulky bald man stepped in between them. "Now, now, let's all calm down. No need for this to get violent, we're all on the same team here."

Kirito pulled his hand away and turned to the exit without wasting another second. "Wait where are you guys going?!"

"Away from you, asshole."

The rude man gnashed his teeth as he watched the two leave the building. His companion quickly came up behind him to check what had happened. "Dude what the hell was that?!"

"Yeah, can you believe the nerve of those two?"

"No man, I'm talking about you! What were you thinking just grabbing that girl like that, are you crazy?!"

"What, don't tell me you some kind of white knight?"

His companion shook his head and pulled up his menu. "Never mind, screw this. Find another DPS player."

"Beat it then! We didn't need you anyway! Tell you what, why don't you go join them?!"

His companion paused and cracked a smile, "Maybe I will."

Once they were outside, Merlin and Kirito finally had a chance to breathe again. "I'm starting to think we might be better off as a duo."

"Same."

"Um excuse me," said a deep voice which made the two of them turn around. They came face to face with the man that had just intervened for them. The man looked like he was of African heritage, had brown eyes, a goatee and looked like he was around his mid-twenties. "I'm wondering if you two were looking for some party members. I'm Agil, and if you don't mind, I would like to join your party."

"Sorry, offer closed a second ago when I realized nobody has their mind together yet."

"If you have a moment, please listen to my offer. By the looks of it you guys are high enough level to be thinking of heading to the next town for better EXP gain, am I correct in assuming that?"

Kirito and Merlin exchanged a brief look. "If that is the case, you guys are going to need more bodies, especially a tank. And that just happens to be my role."

"Why us?" asked Merlin.

"You two are the highest leveled players that I've seen so far. Logically speaking, I have a lower chance of dying sticking with you guys."

"And why should we choose you?" asked Kirito.

"Because I'm probably the only tank player you'll even see today. Good luck finding people who are willing to soak up damage in a game where if your HP hits zero you die in real life."

His reasoning was sound and he seemed like a trustworthy and dependable guy. ' _He's as good of a candidate as we're going to get._ '

"Alright then, let's party up." It was progress but to guarantee their safe travel they would need another member.

"Got a friend that can fill the last spot?" asked Kirito. Right as Agil was about to answer no, a young man stepped out of the Adventure's Hall.

He wore a red bandana which held up his spiky russet colored hair. He had a slight goatee and looked like he was in his early twenties. "My name's Klein, I'm not a tank but another DPS (damage dealer character) shouldn't hurt, right?"

Kirito and Merlin looked at each other and couldn't see a reason not to let them join in. They exchanged friend requests and quickly formed their party. "It's a shame we couldn't get a healer but this early on should be fine."

Just as they got ready to go, another voice called out to them. "Wait!"

It was a beautiful chestnut haired girl with hazel eyes and the sight of her made Kirito's heart skip a beat. "I'm Asuna and I'm mainly a DPS, but I have a heal skill which can save us some pots (potions), do you guys mind if I tag along as well?"

Kirito's logical and emotional halves were waging war over whether or not he should let her join. The EXP share is really cutting thin at this point but thinking back to the scene he just witnessed in the Adventurer's Hall, he decided that being a decent person trumps leveling efficiency. Just as Merlin was about to say that they have too many people, Klein jumped in. "Of course!"

Merlin looked to Kirito for him to say something but instead, Kirito simply nodded. "Yeah sure, why not?"

' _Boys…_ ' sighed Merlin as she face-palmed herself.

"Three DPS, a tank, and a mage…not perfect but it's not terrible either," said Kirito as he marked down the town on everybody's map. "Let's get going, it's going to be a two-day walk from here to Cap Town so let's try to cover as much ground as we can today."

As the group left the city, they noticed a lot of other parties forming. Many were up to the maximum number of 8 and some parties even traveled together to make it even safer. Although many chose to stay safe in the city, it was still encouraging to see some take control of the situation and doing something productive.

The group walked in silence, all of the members deep in their own thoughts as they ran over the death sentence they were dealt. There was a general feeling of uneasiness now that the stakes are higher. Who can they depend on? Can they count on their fellow party members not to run away in the middle of a battle? Can they count on each other to watch their backs when a single mistake could mean the end of someone's life? Each member wondered these things, after all, they've only just met and have no clue what each other's true character is really like.

They were a party but they were far from being a team.

"The day is dark," said Kirito, "let's settle and make camp for tonight." The group nodded in silent agreement and began gathering firewood. Once they had a firepit, Merlin lit it and they watched as the flames burned and listened to the soft crackling of the dry wood. Noticing the gloomy and quiet atmosphere in the group, Klein decided to start some conversations to lighten up the mood.

"So...big guy, Agil, right? Before you were trapped in a video game, what'd you do?"

Agil chuckled. "I ran a small cafe with my wife, called the 'Dicey Cafe.' It was a small business but I enjoyed it very much. You?"

"Ah, I was in my senior year in university studying engineering. That was a pain in the ass! Had the summer off so I decided to just enjoy it and play some video games."

"And now you're here," commented Merlin.

"And now I'm here."

Taking the cue from his chatty party member, Kirito decided to approach the chestnut haired girl who seemed disinterested in what the rest of them were talking about. "Hey, Asuna."

The girl snapped out of her thoughts and turned to look at him. "Oh hey, Kiri...to, right?"

"Yeah." He felt a small spark of happiness within him knowing that the pretty girl remembered his name.

"What's up?"

"Nothing just wanted to see how you were doing."

"I think..." She paused for a little as she stared into the fire. "I think I'm still...trying to process this whole thing."

"I know what you mean. Kinda like 'why us?'"

"Yeah..."

Her expression saddened and Kirito took that as a sign to change the subject as fast as he could. "Anyway, what were you doing before this?"

"I'm 17 so I'm in junior high school right now."

"Oh same, I'm 16 by the way."

Asuna giggled slightly. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"Didn't expect you to be younger than me. You seem pretty mature." Kirito gave her a confused look and she quickly added, "It's not a bad thing."

"Well, you're laughing at me so you're making me feel pretty self-conscious right now." The joke made her laugh a bit more and it made Kirito felt a lot better seeing her smiling instead of being sad.

"Hey, don't tell me you two are flirting already," said Klein across the firepit which caused Kirito to glow a shade of red.

"W-We're not!"

"Let's save our energy, and the talking for tomorrow," said Agil as he got into his sleeping bag that was made out of leather and fur.

"I agree," said Merlin as she added in a yawn and slipped into her sleeping bag as well.

"Goodnight," said Asuna to Kirito as she too prepared for sleep.

"Goodnight," said Kirito as he threw in one last piece of wood to keep the fire going through the night before getting ready for sleep as well.

"Don't be waking us with your 'nighttime activities,'" said Klein.

"I will kick you."

"Goodnight," said Klein as he laughed.

"Night."

* * *

When the morning light woke him up, Kirito hoped that everything that had happened was just a dream. That he wasn't trapped in a death game. That he was just back in his bed and would wake up to the smell of his mom's cooking. But when he smelled the smoke of the burnt wood, he was back to reality, or virtual reality to be exact. He opened his eyes and saw Asuna cooking something on top of the fire. When she noticed that he has woken up, she gave a small smile, "Morning."

' _Maybe this was a dream after all._ '

The rest of the day passed by uneventfully; mainly walking and from time to time Kirito would give some advice on how to defeat a monster that was in their way. Soon the last remaining bit of sunlight was disappearing and the predators of the night were getting ready for their hunt. The group was walking when they heard the loud, ear-piercing howl and sent them to full alert as everyone reached for their weapon. "Let's hurry, wandering around on the road at night isn't such a good idea."

As the group got to the front of the entrance to the forest that led to Cap Town, they once again heard the blood churning howl. "This doesn't look very safe…" said Asuna as she looked into the shadow of the forest and saw bright yellow eyes staring back at her.

' _No it doesn't, but it's the only way to Cap Town unless we take a huge detour,_ ' thought Kirito. "It's okay, we're almost there. Draw your weapons and stay on high alert."

The group entered the forest and could immediately feel the tension of the wolf pack closing in on them. Right as they feel like the wolves were about to pounce, Merlin ignited a huge blaze of fire which made the beasts think twice. They dared not step closer, but kept stalking their prey.

"I can't keep this up for long," said Merlin as she felt her mana draining away at a rapid pace. "The flames are going to die out in a few seconds and we're going to have to run." As Merlin finished her sentence, the flame in her hand started to die down and the beasts, noticing the decrease in danger, drew closer.

"Run, now!" yelled Merlin right as the flames died out. The group began a desperate sprint and the wolves pounced out of the forest and began their chase. Asuna lead the group in terms of speed, however, some could not keep up. Especially the two slightly under-leveled players, Klein, and Agil, and it became a matter of time before the wolves caught up to them. One wolf jumped at Agil but its head was crushed by the immense force of his battle-axe. Three chose to pick on Klein, two pounced at him but he managed to slash through their bodies with his katana. The third chose to go for his leg and succeeded.

"Klein!" yelled the rest of his party members as they saw him fall to the ground.

Merlin tried to conjure up a fireball but the flames fizzled out due to her lack of mana. "Dammit!"

Fear and hesitation began to cloud their judgment. Do they try to save him? If they do, the rest of the pack will catch up. But if they don't, Klein will surely…

"Leave!" yelled Klein as he killed the wolf who bit his leg. The wolf's body disappeared but the bite injury it left on Klein's leg did not.

"No…," said Asuna as she reached for her rapier, "not like this…"

"We're not leaving you man!" said Agil as he began to run back to get Klein.

"Stop!" yelled Kirito which stopped Agil in his tracks.

"Wha-" said Agil as he's about to retaliate but Kirito was already running in.

"You three get to Cap Town, now!"

"Kirito, don't be an idiot! If we're going to fight let's all fight!" yelled Asuna.

"I said GO!" yelled Kirito as he lounged at the wolves trying to finish off the injured Klein. His sword glowed blue and he slashed through three wolves in an instant. "We'll meet you there."

"We're getting out of here Asuna!" said Merlin as she dragged her along.

"But…"

"Kirito will figure something out, he was in the beta test, he must have a plan. We need to trust him," said Merlin as she tried to reassure Asuna, while at the same time trying to reassure herself.

Agil hesitated for a moment but in the end decided to follow Kirito's call. "Don't you dare die on us!" said Agil as he turned around and followed the two girls.

The pack of wolves was now fully caught up and stopped in front of Kirito and the injured Klein. "Dude, as much as I appreciate the gesture," said Klein as he looked at their odds, "what do we do now?"

* * *

"We shouldn't have left them!" said Asuna as she paced around the inn in Cap Town. They've arrived an hour ago and there was still no sign of Kirito or Klein. "Together we would have stood a small chance to fight those wolves off but there's no way Kirito alone could take on all of them."

"Asuna, calm down," said Merlin.

"How do you expect me to calm down?! We don't even know whether they are still alive or not! How could you sit there in such a nonchalant manner without worrying about the wellbeing of our party members? Wasn't Kirito your friend? Why didn't you want to fight?"

"Because I COULDN'T!" yelled Merlin as she slammed her hand on the table. "Do you know what it felt like to be physically powerless to help my friend? Where your only option available was to run away and leave them behind or get killed?"

"Whatever, I'm going back out there!"

"No, you won't," said Merlin as she got up. "I'm not letting their sacrifice lead to just you throwing your life away."

"Are you going to stop me?" said Asuna, now seriously pissed off, as she reached for her rapier and as Merlin ignited a ball of flame in her hand.

"Girls!" said Agil as he got in between the two of them. "Now's not the time to fight. Asuna, you going out there alone now with no clue where the two of them are is suicidal and isn't going to help anyone. Merlin, you said Kirito was a beta tester right? I hate to say this but for now, all we can do is have faith that he will be able to get Klein and himself out of that situation and come back."

The two of them relented and put away their respective weapons. Asuna walked past the two of them and shut herself in her room. Once she left, Merlin collapsed back down on her chair. "I'm so stupid. If I had saved a bit of mana I could have helped Klein escape and we would all be safe right now."

"You can't think like that," said Agil as he put a hand on her shoulder, "if you do, this world is going to eat you up."

* * *

Kirito didn't answer Klein's question, he focused on the opponents in front of him, a couple dozens of wolves. Individually they were lower level monsters than he was but they work extremely efficiently as a pack. ' _There's no way I can take them all on, much less do it protecting Klein at the same time. Man, why did I have to shoot myself in the leg like this? Too late to complain now I guess._ '

Kirito charged up his attack and his sword glowed once more, but this time instead of attacking the wolves, he dragged his sword across the dirt road causing a screen of dust and dirt to fly at the wolves clouding their vision. He took that opportunity and quickly grabbed Klein off the ground and dived off the road. The two rolled down the hill and crashed into a series of bushes and tall grass. Kirito quickly grabbed as many berries as he could and crushed them in his hands, he then smudged the puree all over his and Klein's faces. He then did it again, this time pressing the fruits against Klein's bite injury which made him grimace in pain.

"Keep it in, if they find us we're dead," whispered Kirito as he covered Klein's mouth. The wolf pack wasn't delayed long as they followed down the hill searching for their prey. Their pace slowed as they began sniffing for the scent of blood from their prey's wound. Kirito and Klein watched quietly as the wolves walked by one by one. Their hearts were pounding quickly and they desperately tried to keep their breathing in check to make as little noise as possible.

Their worst fear came true when one member of the pack decided to investigate their area closer. The wolf sniffed around them and they prayed that the smell of the berries could cover the smell of Klein's blood well enough. Kirito watched the wolf carefully and when the wolf's ears suddenly raised up he knew that the wolf had detected them. So without a second of delay, Kirito grabbed the wolf's neck and pull it down into a choke hold while Klein held onto the wolf's body to stop its movement. Kirito focused on keeping the wolf's mouth shut to not be able to warn its pack but the wolf struggled fiercely and clawed at their bodies and faces, leaving painful claw marks behind but despite its effort, the oxygen ran out in its lungs and its body finally stopped moving.

The two boys finally let go of the wolf and its body disappeared into shards of pixels. Luckily, the rest of the pack moved on without noticing one of their members was assassinated and the two relaxed.

"Thanks a lot, man," said Klein as he breathed a sigh of relief. "You literally saved my life."

"No…problem…" said Kirito as he tried to catch up on his breathing.

"What made you want to save me? You don't even know me…" said Klein as he leaned back on a tree trunk.

"At that moment, when you got bit," said Kirito as he also leaned back on the tree trunk, "I thought to myself, 'He's done for, I need to keep running.'"

"Why didn't you?"

"If it wasn't me, it was going to be Asuna or Agil who would have jumped in, and if you guys died…I don't know how I would have been able to live past that, knowing that I could have helped but chose to run away instead."

"You're a good man Kirito," said Klein as he looked up at the starry skies, thanking the heavens for his survival.

Kirito chuckled as he did the same. "I'm just lucky."

* * *

In the morning, Kirito and Klein made their way back onto the main road and reached Cap Town. Klein had one arm around Kirito's shoulder as he supported his injured leg. When Agil saw the two of them he quickly ran up and helped support Klein on his other side. The sounds of their arrival reached Asuna who was sitting under her covers and Merlin who was sipping on a caffeinated drink. The two of them quickly ran out and greeted the two boys.

"Oh thank God," said Asuna as she covered her mouth, trying not to cry.

"Wow, you really pulled it off," said Merlin as she ran up to Kirito.

"Well, I'm skilled!" said Kirito jokingly.

"Yeah," said Merlin as she smiled. "You really are."

"You guys didn't have to carry me like that," said Klein feeling a little embarrassed, "I drank a potion last night and my leg is pretty much completely healed already."

"Just to be safe you should drink a few more," said Merlin as she shoved a couple of bottles onto Klein.

"What happened to your face," asked Asuna as she sat down next to Kirito and used her healing spell on the claw marks on his face.

"Well, you see…we were choking a wolf and it was struggling a lot so-"

"You were what?!"

Kirito and Klein laughed at their reaction, "It's quite the story."

When the guys were patched up and sharing their incredible escape story for the third time, Merlin took the chance to apologize to Asuna. "Listen, sorry about the way I acted last night."

"Yeah, me too," said Asuna, "my mind was just too clouded with emotions."

"So we're good?" asked Merlin as she extended her hand out for a shake but instead received a huge hug from Asuna.

"Yeah, we're good."

"Ugh…Asuna…you're killing me," said Merlin as she was being suffocated due to their difference in height and Asuna's chest.

Once the group got some rest and stocked up on their items, they sat around the dining table at the inn and began planning for their day. "I was thinking we should do a couple of Kill and Collect Quests in the morning to get a feel for these monsters' attack pattern as well as scouting out the area around here. Once we level up a couple times we can try to find an area where we can take down the Area Leader."

"Here's how our battle formation will be…"

* * *

The group arrived at a monster spawn in the forest and began their combat. Merlin initiated with a burst of magic damage from afar. Once the aggression of the Leaf Sprout, a small green creature with a leaf sprouting from the top of its head, was drawn, Klein and Asuna attacked it at the same time and finished it off. However, attacking a single Leaf Sprout draws the aggression of all nearby Leaf Sprout and soon a wave of grass monsters was closing in on them. Some of the higher leveled ones stayed in the back and used the leaf sprouting from the top of their head to launch ranged attacks. Asuna dodged a few but could not escape all of the projectiles while Klein took a lot of damage due to his lesser mobility.

"Merlin!" said Kirito as he ran up preparing to switch with Klein.

"Already on it," said Merlin as she had one big ball of fire in each hand and hurled it at the ranged monsters. One hit and killed it instantly but the other one managed to dodge it. "Tch."

"Klein duck!" said Kirito as he jumped over Klein and prepared to cut down the Leaf Sprout with a mid-air strike. As he brought his blade down, his sword glowed a bright blue and cut through his foe easily. "Move back for now and heal up, once the ranged ones are taken care of switch with Asuna."

 _[Enhanced Strike] skill learned!_

' _We'll look at that later!_ ' thought Kirito as he dismissed the message and dodged an attack.

Asuna jumped backward as one of the Leaf Sprout tried to attack her, once she planted her feet on the ground she pushed herself forward and struck back before the monster could get back into its normal stance. Kirito, on the other hand, attracted three Leaf Sprout at once, he dodged the first two attacks and slashed at his first victim. Using the momentum of his first strike and moving his body accordingly, he jumped and slashed the second Leaf Sprout as well. The third one retaliated and landed a hit but was finished off from the back by Asuna.

"Wow, that's some nice swordsmanship," said Agil as he crushed one of the Leaf Sprout with his battle-axe.

"Well, he is a beta tester after all," said Merlin as she set the previous Leaf Sprout that got away in flames.

Kirito and Asuna tried their best to hold off most of them but some slipped by and went for the annoying mage that was shooting fireballs at them. However, their attacks were blocked by Agil's battle-axe and finished off with a sweeping slash of Klein's katana. Once the majority of the Leaf Sprouts were defeated, the rest quickly retreated.

As the group took a break, Agil went around collecting as much crafting materials as he could and any gear loot that was dropped by the monsters they were fighting. "You know all that gear isn't worth its weight in Cor right?" said Kirito as he walked up to Agil to see what he was doing. "Unless you're thinking of selling them for a profit."

"I know that these aren't worth much and I'm not planning to sell these either," said Agil as he looked through his inventory of all the things he gathered. "I'm planning to give these away to the players who are lower level than us. These armor and weapons are at least better than the starting ones we get, so it should help them get a few level ups fairly easily."

"Then you're quite a good Samaritan."

"Just trying to do my part, not everyone has the courage to take the first steps by themselves." The words of Agil brought up the scene of thousands of players staying within the safe boundaries of the city in Kirito's mind. "But it is not their fault, it is in our nature to fear death and it takes a strong and confident heart to step out of our comfort zone. I would like to help those players find the courage within themselves because if we're going to beat this game, we're going to need all the help we can get."

"A strong and confident heart along with a good tank as well," said Kirito as he patted Agil on the back and the two laughed as they rejoined their group. The group went back into the town and completed all their quests, cashing in a huge amount of EXP and Cor.

"Ayy I just hit level 17 from that!" exclaimed Klein excitingly.

"I'm close, just 200 more EXP or so and I'll be level 17 as well," said Agil.

"I'm almost level 19," said Asuna as she checked her experience bar.

"I hit level 20," said Kirito.

"Same," added Merlin.

"How come I haven't been able to unlock any new skills yet?" asked Klein.

"I think the way you do that in this game is by performing specific actions," said Kirito as he pointed to the [Enhanced Strike] skill he got during the battle. "I got this skill when I was charging up my attack and it seems to make my sword glow and give me a boost of attack damage."

"Whoa, it's true," said Klein as he tried it out. "This is pretty sick! Does that mean it'll work for all skills?"

"I think so, I tried it out with a couple of skills I remember from beta and it seemed to work excluding the ones who have a higher requirement. For example the [Detection] skill and [Hiding] skill."

"What about magic?" asked Klein. "Could Merlin teach us that fireball spell she always uses?"

"I learned the spell through a spell tome. When I read it, the knowledge poured into my mind," explained Merlin. "Theoretically, I could teach it but it would be quite hard to put everything into understandable instructions. It's more like a feeling that you have to grasp."

"Is that a no then?"

"Yes, that's a no."

"Aww! Here I thought I could be a samurai with sick sword skills along with magical fire powers," said a dejected Klein.

The group decided to end the day off with a little bit more questing and retired back earlier at the inn to catch up on the rest they missed the previous night. "I was thinking, we could circle back to the city through another small town here," said Kirito as he pointed to a spot on his map.

"Why are we circling back towards the city?" asked Merlin.

"The players are calling for a big meeting with all the players planning to fight on the front line, it seems like someone has found the Floor 1 boss location already," answered Kirito.

"Wow that was fast," said Klein, "I guess the other groups have been making progress as well."

"At least it's reassuring that everyone is trying to work together to beat this game rather than just individual groups doing their own thing," said Agil.

"Well, Floor Bosses are another story altogether. I don't think any individual guild, raid group or party could clear one alone."

"If we could clear the 1st Floor in the first week it would be a huge boost in morale," said Asuna.

"You're right, that's why I wanted to head back as soon as possible," said Kirito, "but it's safe to say that most players are going to take at least one or two days making their way back to the city so I think it would be beneficial to spend that time questing in a nearby town and experiencing different types of combat."

Once everyone was clear on their schedule, they began to eat their dinner and each headed to their own chambers to rest. Kirito finished up his dinner and grabbed his mushroom soup to go enjoy the night sky view. The temperature was just the right amount of chilly to make having a hot mushroom soup ten times better. As he looked around for an open area with fewer trees to stargaze, he found Asuna sitting alone on a big rock.

' _Guess we had the same idea,_ ' thought Kirito as contemplated whether or not to go up and ask to join her. ' _But what am I going to say? What if it's just an awkward silence?_ '

As he was talking himself out of it, he got a kick from behind and stumbled in front of Asuna. He quickly looked back and saw a shadow of purple scurry back into the inn. ' _I'm going to get you back for this!_ '

"Are you okay?" asked Asuna, confused by Kirito's weird entrance.

"Yeah, uh, do you mind if I join you?" asked Kirito, "I was actually thinking of watching the stars right now too."

"Sure," said Asuna as she patted the seat next to her. Kirito gladly accepted the offer and hopped on next to her.

For a few moment, it was just the two of them sitting there in silence as they stargazed. Kirito tried to think of something to say but he didn't know much about the girl and his interaction with girls in real life were limited to those with his sister due to his hobby. ' _What would I talk about with Suguha right now?_ '

"Um, are you in any…sports club?" asked Kirito as he finally broke the awkward silence. But instead of a response, the chestnut haired girl began to sob.

' _What have I done? Did I say something bad?_ ' thought Kirito as he began to panic, all the knowledge about SAO didn't help him deal with the scenario of a crying girl!

"I'm sorry, don't worry you didn't say anything wrong," said Asuna as she tried to stop her crying, "it's just that when you said that, there was a part of me that thought that I'm never going to see the real world again."

"What? That's nonsense," said Kirito as he looked Asuna straight in the eye. "Me, you, Merlin, Klein, and Agil. We're all going to make it!"

"How can you be so sure?!" yelled Asuna, "Beating a whole game without dying once that's…almost impossible isn't it? Just look at what has happened already! You and Klein almost…" Asuna wasn't angry at Kirito, but rather, she was angry at the circumstance she was trapped in and was angry at herself for not believing that she could get out of it.

"I won't let you die," said Kirito as he grabbed onto her shoulders and kept his eyes fixated in hers. "I promise."

For a moment, the sureness and confidence of Kirito made everything feel like it was going to be okay. It calmed her down a bit and she stopped crying. "Will you promise to keep me safe as well?" asked Kirito with a smile.

Asuna could no longer hold his stare at that point and looked away. Happy now that she was crying a second ago since it now hid her blush. "Yeah."

* * *

 **Author's Note: I actually wanted to get this out a lot sooner but I had to rewrite this twice because I didn't like the tone of it. I really wanted to highlight the distrust of the party at first, as well as the intense emotions at play when the characters were in a high-pressure situation because I felt it was an essential piece of a death game plot that was never even mentioned in the original writing. If some of you are wondering why the group couldn't just stop and fight the wolves, the answer is that I'm trying to portray SAO as a much, much harder game than it was portrayed in the anime. Which is another reason why I had Kirito party up with many people right from the get-go.**

 **Behind the Page**

 **-Yes I know Kirito started off as a 14-year-old and Asuna as a 15-year-old in canon but I decided to bump their age up a little to match the serious tone of the story. It also makes it less awkward for me to write about a romance between middle school students.**

 **Versions that were cut:**

 **1\. Kirito saw someone was about to commit suicide in the colosseum, but the player was stopped by another player called Jax (who will later be introduced) and Jax gave this motivational speech**

 **-didn't like this simply because I have a specific character design in mind for Jax and it just wasn't the time for him to appear yet (also I didn't want to bring him up and have him disappear for a few chapters)**

 **-had trouble writing a good motivational speech**

 **2\. Kirito and group were immediately joking around**

 **-when I reread this version, I realized that I'm writing this based off of the relationship Kirito had with them in the anime and then I realized that Kirito DOESN'T EVEN KNOW THEM YET in this fanfic**

 **-I also didn't like the harsh contrast from such a serious opening to one where everybody is laughing just because of FRIENDSHIP!**

 **Response to Reviews**

 **The Mighty Zingy: Thank you so much for leaving a review and I hope that you will be able to enjoy the OCs I create! I'm so happy that someone liked the explanations of how MMORPG work, I was worried that it would feel like too much exposition. I'm also definitively excited about introducing Klein and his role in this story. As for the main ship, it's still Asuna and I'm for sure going to flesh out their relationship more. Thank you once again for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **ehan.77: Thank you for the review, I hope I can earn your continuous support!**

 **Lonewolf13HAR: :O so you're the Guest that leaves the long reviews? Thank you so much for leaving those long reviews and I'm happy that you signed in since I can see them fully now! I certainly hope that I can keep you guys liking Merlin since she's going to be one of the stronger characters which you'll see a fair bit. As for Klein, *spoilers alert*, he's in this chapter and I have a lot of ideas about his later skills which I am very excited about ;) As for Yui, I don't have any ideas for her yet so unless I come up with something good you won't see any of her. I really appreciate all the feedback you've given me and it's very motivating when I see someone so passionate about my writing that they take the time out of their day to leave a long review! I'll definitively check that video out and I hope I can continue to earn your support!**

 ***For those of you who leave a review as a Guest, I highly encourage you to make an account or sign in with Facebook because (1) I can respond to you guys properly, and (2) the reviews pop up faster. Currently, I have to go onto my e-mail to see any Guest reviews and long reviews end up being cut off! :/**


	4. Rank

**Chapter 3 – Rank**

"Morning," said Kirito as he yawned and sat down at the table with his breakfast.

"Good morning," said Asuna who was already seated, the two exchanged a smile and there was a stifled giggled as Merlin whispered something in Klein's ear.

"Alright, so what's the plan for today?" asked Agil as he got seated with his food as well.

"Before we begin, I would like to say something," said Klein as he cleared his voice. Everyone around the table looked at him and at the corner of Kirito's eye, he could have sworn Merlin's face was showing more excitement than usual.

"Kirito, Asuna, Merlin, Agil…I just wanted to say that…" Klein kept breaking as he tried to stifle his laughter. "I just wanted to PROMISE you all that I will keep you guys safe." His statement instantly turned Kirito and Asuna's faces bright red as Kirito turned to give a death glare at Merlin.

"Merlin, do you PROMISE to protect me?"

"Uh huh, uh huh," said Merlin as she nodded enthusiastically.

"Agil, do you PROMISE to protect me as well?"

"I guess so…Isn't that what tanks are supposed to do?" said Agil, confused at what was going on.

"What about you Kirito, do you-" Klein couldn't finish his sentence before Kirito got up and dragged him out of the inn.

"It wasn't me, it was Merlin's idea!"

"Kya, how dare you accuse an innocent high school girl of doing such a thing," said Merlin as Klein got dragged out.

"What just happened?" asked Agil, still confused as hell.

"Nothing," said a bright red Asuna that looked like she was ready to burst.

"Uh oh," said Merlin as she looked away from her and a bead of sweat rolled down her head.

After their anger was dissolved, the group sat back down at the table with now a dead-silent Klein and Merlin who were no longer laughing. "Now that that's sorted," said Agil as he paused and watched if there were any other taboo words he should avoid. "Where are we going next?"

"Mole Town, it's a place with some lower level quests but it's going to serve as more of a waiting room for the player meeting that's happening in three days," said Kirito.

"Finally, some down time from all this grinding," said Klein relieved that they finally get to have a bit of rest from the non-stop questing.

"By the way, did you guys see the message that the system sent out last night?" asked Agil as he pulled it up from his Inbox.

It was a list showing the top 20 players in SAO.

"LET'S GO! I'M 11th on the ladder!" exclaimed Klein as he fist pumped the air.

"Looks like at the bottom of this group," laughed Agil. "I'm 16th. It also says here that the top 10 players get a unique title showing what rank they are."

"Wow, I'm higher ranked than I thought," said Asuna as she scrolled up the list. "I'm Seventh!"

"Sixth," said Merlin, everybody then proceeded to turn towards Kirito, the highest leveled player among them.

"I'm…Fourth," said Kirito as he tried to feign enthusiasm.

"What's wrong Kirito? Were you expecting to be rank one?" teased Klein.

"You did say the EXP share was going to be impactful if we got more than four members for our party," said Merlin reminding Kirito what he said when she suggested gathering some help.

Asuna realizing that she was the last one to join, quickly apologized. "Sorry Kirito, because I joined, you couldn't get rank one!"

"It's okay," said Kirito as he laughed a little. ' _All things considered, it was definitively better that Asuna joined us._ '

"Let's see those unique titles that you guys got."

"Look at them now but I don't think it will be a good idea to have it showing when we're at Mole Town," said Kirito, "doing so will paint a huge target on our backs. We would basically be telling everyone that we have some of the best items available and that can attract the wrong kind of attention."

"Wasn't planning on using it anyway," said Merlin.

* * *

After breakfast, the group got on the road once again and made their way towards Mole Town. The walk was no longer an eerie silence but instead, was a peaceful chat as each member shared things about themselves from the real world. After a couple days of questing together, the group has grown closer. The wolf incident showed that they were people that cared about each other and wouldn't abandon each other easily.

"By the way Asuna, where did you get that heal spell?" asked a curious Merlin since she couldn't find any other spells for sale other than the [Fireball] spell she has.

"Oh, it was being taught at the church in the city. I was wandering around and just happened to find it," said Asuna as she turned her head and caught a glimpse of Kirito watching her. She quickened her pace and dragged Merlin up with her.

"Do you think Kirito actually does mind that I was the reason he couldn't reach rank one?" whispered Asuna.

"Why do you think that?"

"It's just that…he doesn't seem very happy and he keeps looking at me," said Asuna discouragingly.

"Maybe he's looking at you because he likes you."

"What?! You think so?" said Asuna with a tint of red on her cheeks.

' _Oh no…I'm not going to end up as the person that gives these two relationship advice, am I?_ ' thought Merlin with a blank face.

' _I wonder what I can talk to Asuna about after last night,_ ' thought Kirito as he looked at Asuna who was walking ahead of him. As he thought about it, she turned her head and looked at him briefly before quickly turning away and speeding up her walking. ' _Shoot did I get caught staring?_ '

"Kirito?" The sound of Klein's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Huh?"

"Who were you staring at there buddy?" teased Klein as he wrapped his arm around his shoulder. "Was it the beautiful and graceful Asuna or the cool and calm Merlin?"

"I wasn't looking at either of them," said Kirito as he laughed nervously.

"Oh c'mon, we're all guys here, you can tell us! Agil will even give you some advice!"

"Wait, what?" laughed Agil.

"You're married in real life, aren't you? You can teach young Kirito here the ways to getting a woman's heart!"

"Kathy and I just had many shared interests, she was one of the first few customers I had for my coffee shop-bar and our personalities just seemed to click," said Agil as he recalled his memories. "But I guess there isn't a better-shared interest than to clear a death game, is there?"

"Well if you pair up with Asuna," said Klein as he looked at Merlin. "Maybe I will get a chance with Merlin."

"Not a chance," said Merlin without even turning around which caused the whole group to laugh.

* * *

 _Night of November 4, 2022_

The group arrived at Mole Town, it was small old western style town, like the ones in cowboy movies, with all the shops lined up. It was situated at the base of a mountain, away from the forest, where its inhabitants mined precious minerals. "It seems like we weren't the only one who wanted to wait here before the meeting," said Klein as he noticed how lively the small town was.

"Oh by the way…" said Kirito before he was interrupted by a voice.

"Hello, adventures! Are you tired from your traveling? Want a place where you can relax? Then why not head down to the 'Tipsy Cow' for a drink?!" The group heard the voice but weren't sure where it came from until they looked down and saw that it was actually a dwarf!

"A monster?!" yelled Asuna as she went to draw but was stopped by Kirito.

"Hey! I don't appreciate you calling me that, little miss!"

"Don't worry, these are friendly NPCs, they are the inhabitants of Mole Town and their race are usually some of the best blacksmiths NPC you can find," explained Kirito.

"Forget all that, did you say a drink?!" said Klein excitingly.

"Damn straight, walk down and it's the third shop to your left! You want something, we got it!"

"Guys, can we please go? I haven't had a good beer in so long!" begged Klein.

"I'm actually in the mood to drink a little as well," said Agil as Klein's eyes glittered even more.

"Yeah let's go!" said Asuna enthusiastically.

"Asuna?"

"What? Do we have anything better to do?"

"I…guess not," said Kirito. ' _I wanted to go to the blacksmith shop here but I guess that can wait._ '

They made their way to the bar, and as soon as they saw the entrance Klein ran in without missing a beat. Agil followed and immediately felt a sense of familiarity as he was greeted with the bar atmosphere. But when the last three members tried to enter, they were stopped by an invisible barrier.

"What is this?" asked Asuna as she put her hand against the invisible wall.

"Ah that's the age restriction barrier," said a dwarf at the entrance. "You youngsters aren't at the legal drinking age of 20 and therefore can't enter."

"I don't get it! Why do the laws of real life still apply here?!" said Asuna angrily as the three of them walked away.

"Um Asuna…did you really want to get drunk or something?" asked Kirito, slightly afraid of the girl at the moment.

"Yeah!" said a red-faced Asuna as she turned around and faced her two companions. "I'm stuck in a death game, is it wrong to want to get a little drunk?!"

"No, nothing wrong with that," said Kirito immediately.

"Actually, ther-" said Merlin before her mouth was covered by Kirito.

"Plus I never even got to have that experience."

"Well when we get out, we can all go and get drunk at Agil's bar, right?"

"I don't think Agil wi-" said Merlin before her mouth was covered again by Kirito's free hand.

"What's that? If you want a drink young lady then why don't you come drink with us?" said a stranger as he wrapped his arm around Asuna. He was in his late twenties with long wavy brown hair and he was with two other men with the typical hoodlum looks. "Nice to meetcha, my name's Skrill. Has anyone told you how great of a body you have?"

' _Skrill?_ '

"If you don't move your hand," said Asuna seriously as she instantly drew her rapier out and flashed her rank title as the Roman numeral seven popped up above her head. "You're going to lose it."

"7! This girl is the 7th strongest in SAO right now?" said two men behind Skrill.

"Got a little fight in ya, I like that," said Skrill as he got a hard elbow in the stomach. "Ouch, now why did you have to go and do that? I was only being nice." He tossed away the beer bottle in his hand and drew out a dagger.

"Give me one reason I don't fry you right now," said Merlin as a huge burst of flame appeared in her hands.

"Wait, wait," said Kirito as he got in-between them. "We'll let go of that inappropriate comment you made, and in turn, you let go of our companion here elbowing you. Fair?"

"We'll what?" exclaimed Merlin, amazed that Kirito actually settled for a negotiation rather than a show of strength.

"I don't thin-"

"Or you could try to fight me, Seventh and that mage, who's Sixth, at the same time," interrupted Kirito as he had his blade already half drawn.

Skrill paused and considered his options, the atmosphere was tense as the six players got ready to act as soon as they hear his answer. "That doesn't sound very fun, I'll take your earlier offer then," said Skrill as he sheathed his dagger and walked past the trio. "Have a good night!"

"I hope you have a terrible hangover tomorrow morning!" said Merlin and turned to Kirito. "What was that? He harasses Asuna and you just 'let it go'? You're Fourth, you know?"

"Yeah," said Kirito as he watched Skrill walk away, "and Skrill is First."

"That trash is First?" sighed Asuna, "How disappointing."

' _Eh?_ '

"How did you know?"

"I remember the name from the list we checked this morning," said Kirito, "he's only three levels above me so I knew he would be reluctant to fight the Sixth and the Seventh at the same time. I just gambled that the two with him weren't Second and Third."

"Let's hope the rest of the top 20 are not people like him, especially Second and Third."

* * *

At the bar, Klein was having a blast as he told other players about his adventure so far while Agil shared a couple of tips and items with some of the tank and craft players.

"Thank you so much Mr. Agil, I'm not brave enough to go on the front lines and fight monsters but I'm going to try my best to support them with my blacksmithing!"

"These plants are amazing! I don't think I would have ever gotten a hold of these by myself, thank you so much Mr. Agil! I'm going to become an alchemist to make sure the front line players always has a good stock of quality potions!"

"No problem and just Agil is fine."

"Agil? Rank 16 Agil, right?" asked one of the men sitting beside him. "You're the highest ranked tank right now, do you mind sharing some tips?"

"Wow, I didn't know that," laughed Agil. "Let's see…the key is knowing the limits of your DPS members so that you can pull the right amount of aggro off of them. This increases your chance of survival while helping out the damage dealers as much as possible. Drawing all of the aggro this early on can get you killed easily."

"I'm telling you, the pain was unbearable but I had to endure it or else we would have been eaten alive!" said Klein as he retold the wolf incident story.

"Dammit Klein you've told this story like five times already," said one of the listeners which got the whole crowd laughing, Klein included. The atmosphere was good and the spirits were high until one player kicked open the revolving bar door as if he owned the place, then everything went quiet as the players turned their attention to the new guest.

"So this shit hole is the only bar in town huh?" said the man as he walked in with his friends. The man was around Agil's size, looked like he was around 40 years old, had long black hair and a goatee. He had an x-shaped scar on his forehead but what attracted more attention was the title above his head, X, Tenth.

The man walked up to the bar counter and everybody sitting there got up, except one young man who was still eating his food obliviously. He looked like he just had his twentieth birthday, had a fair, pale complexion and a slender jawline. He had brown eyes and hair in a spiked ponytail with his own hair securing it. He was wearing a light blue Chinese monk style outfit and had a conical monk hat resting on his back. His shoulders were broad and well-muscled but his overall build was toned and agile.

"Welcome," said the bartender.

"A shot of vodka," ordered the man.

"I'm sorry sir but we don't serve vodka here."

"Hmm…," said Tenth as he looked at the young man who was still eating, "that's strange, then what is this man drinking here? Water?"

The young man finally stopped eating and looked up without a hint of fear. "Ah, this? This is baijiu," said the young man as he took out a small white glass bottle. "It's too bad they don't have vodka here, so why don't you have some of my drink? Careful though it's some pretty strong stuff."

The man looked at the small bottle for a second and smashed it with his fist; the glass shattered and the drink spilled all over the young man. "Do you see the title that I have, boy? Tenth! I am currently the tenth strongest player in this world right now! A small bottle like that isn't going to satisfy me."

The young man stayed quiet for a moment and then finally sighed. "Look at that, now the floor's wet. Hey bartender, do you have a mop?"

"Maybe you should start to worry about yourself instead of the floor," said Tenth as he drew his sword out.

"Huh? Why would I need to worry?" said the young man without batting an eye, and that was the final straw for Tenth.

' _Hey, are you serious?_ ' thought Klein as he was about to stop the young man from getting himself killed.

Tenth swung his sword at the young man's neck but a few centimeters before the blade made contact, a red barrier stopped his strike.

' _No Combat Zone_ '

"Tch saved by the system," said Tenth as he sheathed and walked out the bar. "Why don't we take it outside?"

"Why would I go outside? It's cold out there," said the young man as he simply continued eating as if somebody didn't just try to kill him.

"Damn coward," said Tenth as he finally walked away.

"The hell was wrong with that guy!" said Klein as he walked up to the young man. "Are you okay, man?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," said the young man as he laughed. "That guy was so serious, but he got me pretty good. That baijiu was a rare drop and now it's all gone before I even got a chance to enjoy much of it."

"Dude, weren't you worried that you were going to die?"

"Die?" laughed the young man as he raised both arms and flexed jokingly. "I'm pretty strong you know. I'm actually…" Before the young man could finish his sentence he fell off of his stool and collapsed on the ground.

"Are you okay?! What happened?!" Players crowded around him to see whether he was actually injured or not and all was quiet once again as they tried to listen for a heartbeat. Instead what they heard was the sound of him snoring and the tension dispelled as the group began to laugh at how weird the situation was.

The sound of their laughter drew another player into the bar and once she found the source she quickly ran over. "Jax, there you are! I've been looking all over this area for you!" said the female player as she propped Jax on her shoulder. The female player was quite attractive, with long flowing black hair and amber eyes. Her build was slim but she was clearly stronger than it suggested. "I apologize if he caused you guys any trouble," said the girl as she bowed and got out as fast as she came in.

' _Jax? Where have I heard that name before?_ ' thought Klein to himself, but the alcohol made it hard to think so he just decided to ignore it for now and went back to having a good time.

* * *

In the meantime, Merlin decided to go back to the inn early to wake up for the meeting on the next day. "I'm going to need all the rest I can get if I'm going to sit through a conversation with Skrill so I'm going to sleep."

"Alright I guess we can call it a day then," said Kirito as he missed the obvious setup by Merlin.

Merlin sighed. "No you guys don't have to follow, go and…walk around or something."

"Are you sure? Don't you think it would be safer if we went with you?"

"Yes…I'm sure," said Merlin as her patience for Kirito's cluelessness was growing thin.

"Alright, stay safe then," said Asuna as she mouthed a silent 'thank you' with which Merlin responded with a thumbs up.

The pair decided to go walk around town for a bit, it was no longer the beautiful forest green surrounding them yet the tall mountains and the endless desert had its own unique charms as well. "By the way…what did you mean when you said you were disappointed with First?" asked Kirito carefully.

"Hmm? I meant it was disappointing that the strongest player ended up being such a jerk," responded Asuna.

"Ah okay, good," said Kirito, confusing Asuna in the process.

After a while, they decided to get away from the town and settled on a little cliff where they had a better view of the night sky. "So how was spending your first week in a virtual death game?" asked Kirito jokingly.

"Not as bad as I thought since I was with you," responded Asuna which made Kirito pause and blush as he was taken aback by her forwardness. Asuna realizing what she had just said quickly added in, "a-and everyone else, of course! Everyone has helped with keeping the morale high and stuff."

"Right, yeah, definitively," said Kirito as he tried to recover from her previous statement. ' _Of course, that's what she meant…_ '

' _Gah Asuna why do you suck at this flirting thing?_ ' thought Asuna.

"Well…I'm happy that you joined our party," said Kirito as he looked over at her and seeing a surprised look on her face, "s-since you're so skilled, it made clearing the monsters a lot easier and everything!"

' _Well, I just failed the school of flirting,_ ' thought Kirito.

The two fell into an awkward silence as both of them kicked themselves mentally for backing out of where they wanted the conversation to go. Finally, both of them steeled themselves and said at the same time. "Actually, what I meant was-"

Before they could finish their sentence, a shooting star shot across the night sky, leaving its luminous stardust along with the rest of the twinkling stars in the ebony sky. "Quickly, make a wish!" said Asuna as she closed her eyes and put her hands together.

Kirito quickly followed suit. ' _I wish we can quickly clear this death game with everyone getting out alive and well…maybe except for Skrill, it wouldn't hurt if he got his ass kicked a few times, and…_ ' Kirito opened one of his eyes as he looked over at Asuna, ' _if I could get some luck with her, that would be nice too._ '

"What'd you wish for?" asked Kirito as they both opened their eyes.

"I-I can't tell you!" said Asuna as her face grew red. "You're supposed to keep it a secret or else it won't come true!"

"Alright, what were you going to say before then?"

"N-nothing…" responded Asuna as she looked away. "You?"

"I…forgot," said Kirito as he faked a laugh. ' _We'll have to leave this to the higher beings for now…_ '

* * *

 **Author's Note: I know this chapter didn't have a lot of action but I promise that the next one will have lots of it. It was intended to act as a filler to introduce some characters that are going to be important in the next few chapters. If you guys were wondering what I had in mind when describing Jax; his looks were based on Nezumi from No.6. I also wanted to start off Kirito and Asuna's relationship as a bit awkward at first (because let's be honest that's like the majority of teenage relationships) rather than have them suddenly kiss in the heat of the moment or something like that. Thank you for reading, if you enjoyed it or have any suggestions, comments or questions please leave a review! I appreciate every single one and it really makes my day when I read them!**

 **I'm also just going to address some things that were brought up in the reviews:**

 **Balancing Kirito – In order to demote Kirito from god status I decided to make the game in general much harder so you won't see Kirito soloing any Floor Bosses**

 **Magic – I'm sorry but magic is going to be a part of this story and so is healing :/ The reason for this inclusion is that I want to portray many elements of MMORPGs that were clearly left out from the original SAO. It also opens up many more options in terms of fighting, player no longer have to hack the boss to death and can engage with different strategies**

" **But everybody is going to be a support…" – Whoever wrote this comment, thank you so much! You've given me so many ideas XD**


	5. Round Table Meeting

**Chapter 4 – Round Table Meeting**

 _November 5, 2022_

The atmosphere could only be described as tense as the players gathered once again at the starting colosseum. A place of great joy, where they first witnessed this breathtaking world, and a place of great horror, where they were first trapped. Nobody knew what to expect, after all, it was the first time a meeting of this magnitude was being hosted. A meeting in which the decisions made could save or lose hundreds of lives. Players of all levels gathered, including the ones who never left the city. Everyone wanted, needed, to know the first move that they were going to make against Kayaba Akihiko in this death game.

At the center of the amphitheater sat a stone table for ten, they were reserved and they would seat the ten strongest players of Sword Art Online. The rest of the player base filled up the rows of seats in the audience area, where they would have a clear view of the meeting. Whispers and rumors circled around the amphitheater as little was known about what would actually be discussed apart from the obvious subject of the Floor Boss.

Kirito, Asuna, and Merlin waited patiently in the gladiator entrance tunnel for the appointed time of the meeting. "How do you think the discussion today will play out?" asked Asuna.

"I don't know, apart from the Floor Boss discussion, there are an endless amount of topics that needs to be addressed if we are expecting SAO to be our world for the next little while," said Kirito.

"I'm just concerned about the fact that it's Skrill that's hosting this meeting," said Merlin. "It's strange that he reached out to the rest of the player base like this, he must have some ulterior plans."

"Let's just hope he was simply drunk last night, the last thing we need is a reckless and irresponsible leader for such an important meeting."

"Speak of the devil."

"And he shall appear," said Skrill as he walked down the corridor. "Ah, it is good to see you guys here."

"Can't say that I feel the same way."

"And you swordsman, I didn't know you were one of the top ten as well," said Skrill as he ignored Merlin's comment and whispered in Kirito's ears. "Scared of challengers?"

"Some things are better kept hidden," replied Kirito confidently, "because when I fight a man for real, I don't want him to know what I'm capable of."

"Well said," said Skrill as he smirked and went on to the greet the other members of the table.

"What's with that complete reversal of attitude?" asked Asuna, astonished by Skrill's behavior. "I thought he would make another inappropriate comment or something. Maybe he really was just drunk."

' _I'm curious as well, why is he acting like this? Maybe it's to establish some dominance before the meeting?_ '' thought Kirito as he watched Skrill from the back. ' _Am I overthinking things?_ '

"It's time." The players stepped out of the corridor and into the sunlight as they showed the titles that represented their ranks. Each stood up tall and held their heads high, it was an honor to stand at the top of the player base and to be in a position to make these important decisions. The crowd would have cheered had the setting not been so dark and serious, instead, they stared silently as the top players took their seats.

"Wow, didn't think that girl would be Eighth," said Klein to Agil as the black haired girl they briefly met with last night sat down.

"I wonder if Jax is somewhere around here then," said Agil as he tried to look for someone in a monk outfit but was unable to find him.

The silence dissipated quickly as a simple headcount showed that only eight out of the ten top players showed up. Third and Fifth were missing and nowhere to be seen. "I can't believe they would miss such an important meeting," said Asuna, having the same reaction as the audience.

"This should have been expected," said Ninth, a dark-skinned young man around 18 years old with long white hair and ruby-colored eyes. He was wearing a green ranger outfit with a matching hood and had his bow resting on the table in front of him. "Most of the higher leveled players would have ventured further away from the city. With such a sudden meeting call, it's no surprise that some would not be able to make it back in time."

"Or maybe they're already dead," said Tenth as he chuckled.

"Do you find the death of our companions funny, Tenth?" asked Second in a serious tone as he stared him down with his dark olive eyes. He was quite the intimidating figure; tall and well-built, carrying a greatsword on his back and a stoic expression on his face. He didn't look much older than Kirito, perhaps in his early twenties, and had medium length dark olive-brown hair to match his eyes.

"Don't get so serious Second, it was only a joke."

"That wasn't my question."

"Ladies and gentlemen!" said Skrill as he decided to get the meeting started before any fighting among the table members occurred. "Thank you for coming to our first player's meeting. As all of you are aware, my party and I have found the location of the First Floor Boss, which is why we have gathered the strongest players here today to discuss how we're going to clear it. Unfortunately, some of the members could not make it but it is still a great turnout nonetheless and we'll proceed as planned."

"However, before we start I would like all the players who are currently here to fill out a survey," said Skrill as he sent out the survey through his menu. "This will give us a census of our current player base, ranging from levels to classes, which will help us better plan for our strategies. Now without further ado, the location of the First Floor Boss!"

An updated map of the first floor was spread out on the stone table and a large projection of it appeared in the air for the audience. "The dungeon is located northwest of Mole Town about an hour away; it has three levels and the First Floor Boss, Illfang the Kobold Lord, resides on the final level. Illfang uses an ax and a buckler and has four health bars."

"Now please pay close attention to this next part, Illfang has two distinct skills, his first skill is one where he reduces the armor of the player hit and you'll know it's using that skill when its ax glows red. His second skill is a knockback where he will perform a sweeping slash motion. Finally, within the boss room, Illfang is guarded by three Ruin Kobold Sentinels who are not that difficult to deal with."

"Did you manage to see his second set of attack patterns?" asked Kirito, he paused and considered if he should say the next part but decided that valuable information should be shared freely. "In the beta test, once Illfang's last health bar hits red, his weapon and attack patterns will change into a more aggressive one. The sentinels guarding him also respawns every time one of his health bars gets depleted, so that's twelve in total. Of course, that was all in just the beta test, so it might have been changed."

"We didn't manage to damage it to that extent, we were mainly trying to figure out its basic attack patterns but thank you for sharing that piece of valuable information," said Skrill, which earned a nod from Kirito. "Now before we move onto the strategic planning, I would like to take a vote on who our leader should be."

' _It's not rare to see a raid group such as this have a leader, in fact, having a leader give commands makes raid success chance a lot higher,_ ' thought Kirito. ' _The question is, who can we trust with that big of a responsibility?_ '

"I nominate First," said Tenth, "his group was the one that found the location of Illfang and he even took the initiative to gather all of us here for a high success clear. I think he should be the leader."

"I disagree," said Asuna. "Fourth here was a beta tester that made it further than anyone else, he knows much more about the Floors beyond and will be able to guide us."

' _Asuna?!_ '

"Then why wasn't Mr. Beta Tester the one that found the location of the Floor Boss? It's clear that the actual game differs greatly from the beta and, for all we know, all his knowledge about upper Floors is useless," argued Tenth.

"Game knowledge isn't simply knowing the location of bosses or their attack patterns, it also includes how to level up efficiently and better raid planning. If nothing else, our party's strength should be a testimony to that," defended Merlin as she pointed to the number of seats they've taken at the table.

"Second, Ninth, Eighth what are your opinions on this?" asked Skrill.

"I don't know you or Fourth, so I can't say who would be the better leader," said Ninth. "However, if I had to pick, my vote would go to First. He was the one that managed to obtain that title, he clearly knows what he's doing in terms of leveling at the very least. On top of that, the system gives First many extra privileges such as being able to send a message to the whole player base, it would make sense for him to be the leader."

"My vote rests with Fourth," said Second. "Making someone a leader simply because they are strong doesn't seem like a good idea to me and Fourth's knowledge of upper floors will come in handy."

' _Wait,_ ' thought Kirito as he looked around the table. ' _How come nobody even asked me whether or not I actually want to be the leader?_ '

"I vote for First," said Eighth, "unlike Second, I actually think having the strongest player be our leader can be quite reassuring and a great morale boost."

"The table seems to be at a tie, but we have yet asked the rest of the player base," said Skrill as he turned towards the audience. "I ask that those of you who are over level 15 to vote for who you believe should be the leader."

Two counts appeared on the display, showing the number of votes Kirito and Skrill received. The players voted and the counts stopped fluctuating, and it was Skrill's win by a landslide. "This should be fair enough, right?" asked Skrill as he smiled to the rest of the table. The table was quiet; Merlin sat back clearly displeased but there wasn't much she or anyone could say. The players made their choice, 'We'll follow First.'

' _Not that I wanted to be the leader but losing by that big of a margin is a little disappointing,_ ' thought Kirito as he laughed to himself. ' _I don't look_ that _untrustworthy, do I?_ '

"Let us move on to the boss battle planning then," said Skrill as he pulled up the statistics from the census that was conducted at the beginning.

 _Player Census_

 _Player Count: 9738_

 _Average Player Level: 5.9_

 _DPS: 1367_

 _Tanks: 1847_

 _Support: 1953_

 _Unknown: 4571_

' _Average player level of 5.9, huh? I guess I shouldn't be surprised since the majority of the players stayed within the safe zone of the city and didn't level up,_ ' thought Kirito. ' _But what's this strange feeling I'm getting from these stats?_ '

"Looking at the statistic, it seems like we have an abundance of tanks and support players," said Skrill, "here's how I suggest we approach this raid. All the tank players will draw the attention of Illfang away from the DPS, with the majority of the support players helping them. Meanwhile, the DPS players will take care of the sentinels. Once they are done with them, the support players will heal them back to full and the DPS will proceed to fight Illfang."

"What will we do if the sentinels respawn?"

"The DPS will peel back and deal with them as they have when the battle began," answered Skrill as he looked around and saw that there were no more questions. "If there are no further question, then I will begin assigning players into the different teams and we'll end the meeting here."

"What, already?" said Kirito. "Shouldn't we at the very least talk about how to get the in-game economy running?"

"One step at a time, Fourth," said Skrill as he dismissed him. Once the players were divided, the meeting was dissolved and everybody went their separate ways. "Let's meet at the dungeon entrance tomorrow at 10 A.M."

' _This plan emphasizes DPS players quite heavily, but why are there such a small amount of DPS players engaging the Floor Boss right off the bat?_ '

"What do you guys think of the plan?" asked Kirito as the group walked back to their inn.

"Well it's not completely terrible," said Merlin.

"You still don't like him very much, do you?" asked Asuna as she giggled.

"And you do now?"

"No, but he did behave much more civilly today."

"To be honest, the plan seems quite good to me," commented Klein. "It feels pretty safe, with the support players backing us the whole time."

The group seemed to be fairly cheerful, all except Agil who seemed to be worrying about something. "Something wrong, Agil?" asked Kirito.

"Yeah…" said Agil, "I'm wondering how I'm going to be able to tank Illfang for so long?"

"You should have the supports healing you, right?"

"There would have to be more than one support per tank," commented Asuna. "The basic heal spell taught at the church would definitively not be enough to sustain against the heavy hits of a Floor Boss. Unless the support player is fairly high leveled."

"I guess I'm just a little nervous," said Agil as he scratched his head. "All the other tanks will probably be looking for me to carry most of the load since I'm the highest leveled among them."

"You're the highest leveled among the tanks?!" asked Kirito. "How do you know?"

"The guys I was talking to last night at the bar told me. They were saying how it was hard to level up as a tank since killing monsters took much longer."

"Oh no…" said Kirito as he ran back towards the colosseum. ' _Of course! Why didn't I think of that? The tank and support players are definitively going to be way more under leveled compared to DPS players since they can't kill monsters at the same rate._ '

"Kirito where are you going?!"

"To see Skrill! The battle plan, it's no good!"

* * *

"Skrill!" said Kirito as he arrived back at the table. Skrill and Tenth were the only members of the top ten that were remaining and were talking with many other players.

"Ah Fourth, or can I call you Kirito?" said Skrill as he turned his attention to Kirito. "How can I help you?"

"The plan is no good, you have to change it. The tanks are way too under leveled to be tanking Illfang the entire raid."

"Yes, but with the number of support players we have, there should be more than enough sustain."

"How many of those support players are actually healers? Not to mention that the under level problem is most likely an issue with the support players as well. I knew there was something weird about that survey, first of all, there was no distinction of craft players so I just assumed that they were the 'Unknown's but thinking about it now, those had to be the players who didn't level up and stayed in the safe zone. Since their level is so low, they haven't gotten a chance to choose which job to pursue yet. The battle plan as well, there was such a heavy emphasis on DPS players and I just couldn't figure out why, but I think I know now," said Kirito as his tone changed to one of anger. "This whole battle plan was set up so that the DPS players would survive, wasn't it?!"

"So that's why he set the minimum voting level at 15 because he knew that most of the higher level players would be DPS players," said Merlin.

"And I wouldn't be surprised if most of the players who've voted for him knew about this secret agenda," said Kirito as he looked at the players standing around Skrill.

Skrill remained silent for a moment and finally said, "You're right. The plan is to make sure that all the DPS players survive."

"You bastard!"

"You would willingly lead all those tank and support players into a death march?"

"The highest leveled players currently are all DPS players, that's a fact. Is it wrong to try and preserve our strongest? No! It is those who hide behind a big shield, who are unwilling to fight for our escape and those who rather watch safely in the back that needs to step up to the front and face this challenge with the rest of us!"

"You've lost your mind," said Merlin.

"On the contrary Merlin, it is only I who have been looking at this situation clearly. 262, that's the number of players who have died already. 5.9, the average level of our player base, a number that shows a cowardice that disgusts me. If these are the people that we have to work with then we must pour all our resources into specific individuals. These specific individuals will then be able to carry the rest of the player base through these 100 Floors as quickly as possible!" said Skrill as he looked at Kirito and extended his hand. "Join me Kirito, Asuna, Merlin, we are the best of the best and, with my plan, you would never have to worry about dying."

' _Not having to worry about dying?_ ' thought Asuna as she hesitated, the thought of having their chances of survival increase significantly was appealing not only to her but also to Kirito and Merlin. However, it wasn't enough for them to overlook the thousands of lives that would be sacrificed.

"We refuse!" said the three of them at the same time without a hint of regret which brought a smile onto Agil's face.

"If we clear this, we clear this with the whole player base, not just the DPS players."

"A shame," said Skrill as his expression darkened. "However, your decision doesn't change the plan whatsoever, we'll simply clear Illfang without you then."

"You think we would keep quiet about this?"

"You believe you can spread this 'rumor' fast enough?" laughed Skrill. "Plus, what's to say anyone believes what you have to say?"

' _Damn he's right,_ _there's no way we can spread this information fast enough before the raid tomorrow,_ ' thought Kirito as he looked at his party and then back at the smug Skrill.

"Now, if we are done here, then I have to go," said Skrill as he turned to walk away with his group following closely behind him. "I have a raid to attend to tomorrow."

"You really think a team of solely DPS players is enough to clear this game?!"

"You tell me Kirito," Skrill said as he turned to face him. "Didn't you manage to solo your way all the way up to Floor 8?"

"How did you..."

"You don't think I got First from being a newbie at the game, did you? Maximizing EXP sharing by having a party of 4, doing a combination of Kill and Collect quests, securing a high-quality farming area. I too was one of the 1000 beta testers for Sword Art Online."

' _There's no other choice…_ ' thought Kirito as he resolved himself.

Asuna looked over at Kirito and saw that he had his head down and fist clenched. "Kirito?" she asked worriedly, he had something planned and the last time he acted like this he jumped in alone in front of a pack of wolves.

"Wait up Skrill!" said Kirito as he drew out his sword.

"You want to fight, brat?!" yelled Tenth as he drew out his sword, along with the rest of Skrill's group.

"Bandit, stand down," said Skrill as he signaled his guys to calm down. "Kirito, we outnumber you quite heavily right now. Are you sure you want to do this?"

It was a dozen of midlevel DPS players with First and Tenth against a party of five. Kirito's party looked at him, wondering what his plan was to beat this huge disadvantage, but instead, Kirito calmly drove his sword into the ground and smiled. "I think you have the wrong idea Skrill," he said as he looked Skrill dead in the eye with a cold stare.

" **I'm challenging you for the title of First."**

* * *

 **Author's Note: Remember when I said there would be action this chapter? Yeah, let's postpone that promise to the next chapter XD I hope the pacing for this chapter was good, and if you guys have any comments, suggestions or question please leave a review! As always thank you for reading and I hope you guys have a wonderful day!**

 **Lonewolf13HAR** **: Thank you for reviewing once again! I would have sent a PM but it didn't let me for some reason so I'll just respond to your review here. Although that first review about pacing was hard to swallow, it's definitively the kind of criticism that will improve my writing and push it to the next level, so I would like to thank you for your constructive honesty (Funny how I criticize the writer of SAO for poor execution and then botch up the execution myself :P). I hope I continue to improve as a writer and I hope I can continue to earn your support!**


	6. Kirito vs Skrill! Battle for First

**Chapter 5 – Kirito vs. Skrill! The Battle for First**

"I'm challenging you for the title of First."

There was a pause before Skrill burst into laughter. "You challenge me? What a joke! By what right do you challenge me? And what would I gain from accepting this challenge of yours?"

"You could shut me up for good," said Kirito as he stood his ground undeterred, "if you were to win, no matter what I said after, nobody would believe me. It would just be the cries of a sore loser. But if I were to go out there now, who knows how many people I can convince out of your plan? Maybe the two who didn't attend today's meeting. Maybe even Eighth and Ninth will stop supporting you as well, I wonder how that'll affect the morale of the player base?"

"Or maybe we kill all of you right here, right now," said Bandit (Tenth) angrily as he stepped up.

"You could do that," said Kirito as he drew his blade out of the ground and looked at Bandit and the rest of Skrill's group. The stare was not of someone who was cornered with a numbers disadvantage but of a predator watching which one of his prey he will pounce on first. "But how many will live to tell the tale, that's the real question."

"It truly is a shame that we are not on the same team Kirito," said Skrill as he tried to bargain with the opposing group once more. "Why don't you take some time t-"

"What's wrong Skrill, scared of challengers?"

Skrill grinned as he received the same words he used against Kirito. "You do like to talk a lot, don't ya?" He thought about it for a moment and licked his lips as he looked at Kirito. His composed demeanor now breaking, revealing the more wild and unpredictable side that they saw that night. "I'm going to enjoy wiping that pretentious smirk off your face."

"Then it's settled," said Kirito as he sheathed his blade, "gather the all the players here again, we'll fight at sundown."

Kirito's group cautiously walked past them as Skrill signaled his men to stand back. "Don't run Kirito," whispered Skrill as they walked past him. "I will find you."

"Are you sure it was a good idea to just let them walk?" asked Bandit once Kirito's group cleared out.

"Shut it and leave me!" The rest of his group didn't argue with the seemingly fanatic state Skrill was in and quickly left as well out of fear. As soon as he was alone, he slammed his fist on the table and kicked over the chairs. "Why! WHY ARE THEY DEFENDING THESE COWARDS! THESE GOOD-FOR-NOTHINGS THAT RUN AT THE FIRST SIGN OF DANGER! They are all the same. They will all betray us once we have done the heavy lifting like they have before. I won't let that happen. I WILL BE THE ONE USING THEM. I won't let them run Josephina. Not again."

* * *

"Why did you have to go and try to take on all the burden alone again?! You don't have to be the hero every time!" said Asuna angrily as she grabbed onto his collar. "You can't keep putting yourself in danger like this…"

"I'm sorry, Asuna, everyone," said Kirito as he patted her on the head, "it was the only thing I could think of where we would be able to save all those players."

"Do you think you can win?" asked Merlin cut and dryly. "Because if you can't, we should probably start considering our other options."

"His base stats will be higher than mine since he's three levels above me," Kirito looked at his hand and clenched his fist. He looked up confidently and said, "But I'm pretty sure my game mechanics are superior so it can honestly go to either side."

"He said he was a beta tester as well..."

"Not all beta testers were experienced MMORPG players, most of them didn't know how to properly play the game. Skrill might have just copied the leveling tactics of the experienced players but not have their same level of game mechanics. Plus, PvP (player versus player) and PvE (player versus environment) are two completely different things."

"Well, then there's no time to lose. Let's try to get some practice in for you before the duel."

"I'll help," said Asuna with determination, "I'm an agility type like Skrill and I'm pretty close to your level as well."

"Me too!" said Klein, equally as eager. "I may not be as high leveled as Asuna, but another sparring partner shouldn't hurt."

"Thanks, guys," said Kirito as he smiled. ' _Perhaps it wasn't the best thing I could have done, but at least I have the support of these guys._ '

* * *

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! AN UNEXPECTED DUEL HAS BEEN ISSUED AND IT IS ONE THAT YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS! FEATURING SKRILL, THE FIRST, AND KIRITO, THE FOURTH, FOR THE TITLE OF THE STRONGEST PLAYER IN SWORD ART ONLINE!"

It was late in the afternoon, as the sun got ready to set the players once again gathered at the colosseum; there was excitement, confusion, and tension, but one thing was for sure, not one player chose not to watch this fight.

Kirito was sorting through the different swords he had in his inventory when Klein patted him on the shoulder. "You feeling ready?"

"Yeah, I think so," said Kirito as he chose to go with the [Anneal Blade] that he got from a quest in Cap Town. It was a pure white sword with a black handle and a slightly thicker guard.

"THE INTENT OF THIS CHALLENGE IS QUITE QUESTIONABLE, WITH RUMOURS GOING AROUND CLAIMING KIRITO AND HIS PARTY IS A GROUP OF PKERS (PLAYER KILLERS) AND THAT IS HOW THEY GOT TO SUCH HIGH LEVEL!"

"What the hell is that announcer talking about?!" said Asuna, furious at those false accusations.

"Probably Skrill spreading false propaganda to antagonize us further, just ignore them," said Merlin as she turned to Kirito. "Kick him in the crotch for me if you can."

Kirito laughed. "That's pretty dirty play."

"I don't care, if anyone deserves it, it's him," Merlin stayed quiet for a second and then looked up at him. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you train, all I can say is good luck."

"Don't worry about it, that's more than enough."

"You better win Kirito," said Klein as he whispered into Kirito's ear, "gotta impress Asuna, amirite?"

"You idiot," said Kirito as he pushed Klein away jokingly.

It was then Asuna's turn to walk up to him. "You know I'm still not happy about this."

"Sorry Asuna," said Kirito as he looked down; he didn't blame her for being mad, in fact, it made sense for everyone to be mad at him for putting all those lives on a fight.

Then he felt a small fist on his chest. "This is going to be the last time you go in alone," said Asuna as she smiled and blushed slightly, "or else you're going to make it harder for me to keep my promise."

Kirito looked up as he felt a surge of energy and motivation from Asuna's words and nodded. Finally, right before stepping out of the gladiator's entrance and onto the stage, Agil gave him a pat on the back and smiled. "Go give him hell!"

It was an encouraging moment, he could feel Agil's faith in him and at that moment he felt like Agil was saying, ' _I trust you with my life and the lives of the other support players._ ' Words wouldn't have been able to convey the credence Agil had in him, but his attitude and action were enough.

"You bet!" Kirito stepped out into the arena confidently and was instantly greeted with a variety of reactions from the crowd, it was a mixture of cheering and hostility. Quite ironic, he thought, the very people he was trying to save were cheering against him. The jeer of the audience didn't affect him much but it was then that he could feel the full pressure of this match. There was no room for error, people's lives were on the line and he had to win.

As he made his way to the middle of the arena, he saw Skrill walk out of his side of the colosseum. A wild and disturbed look on his face as he licked his lips in anticipation, the look of a man who wanted nothing more than to rip him apart.

"Kirito, I've been waiting all day for this," said Skrill as he met with Kirito in the middle and pulled out his two karambits. They were short and curved knives that resembled the claws of beasts. Skrill held each knife with his index fingers through the ring on the top of the knife and gripped the molded handle tightly. The blade curved forward and pointed downward from the bottom of his fists. "All I've been doing is sharpening my knife and thinking of all the ways I'm going to slit your throat."

Kirito didn't respond and simply sent him the duel request.

The countdown for the duel began and the crowd fell dead silent. Asuna closed her eyes and prayed for Kirito's victory. The clock was now down to ten with Kirito's heart rate increasing exponentially with each second. He was no doubt nervous but he remained clear-headed and composed. The moment one loses his wits is the moment when he has lost the battle.

Zero.

Skrill opened with a quick flurry of slashes, trying to close the distance between them, but Kirito blocked the attacks and dodged backward. First charged back in for the second time and was met with a strong [Empowered Strike] from Kirito. He brought his two knives up to parry, however, the small blades were not going to stand up to the pressure of the sword for long. Kirito gritted his teeth and pressed down harder, putting his entire body weight into the attack, breaking the guard.

Skrill tried to dodge to the left but Kirito used the momentum of his first strike, spun in midair and brought down another powerful slash onto his opponent. Steel connected with flesh as the sword left a crimson mark across Skrill's torso, taking him down to 60% HP. The crowd erupted in excitement as first blood was drawn.

Skrill looked down at his new wound and smiled. He licked his lips and looked more crazed than ever. "My turn, Kirito."

The karambits glowed red and Skrill's attack became twice as fast. His speed overwhelmed Kirito and quickly put him in a defensive stance. But even with his entire focus on blocking, some slashes still made it through to him. Small cuts began to appear all over his arms, legs, and body, slowly chipping away at his HP. A right hook slash aimed at his head was just barely dodged as Kirito ducked and felt the current of air from the attack over his head. Before he could recover, he was met with a kick to the face that sent him tumbling backward.

There was a taste of blood in his mouth but he had no time to mull over the pain, the next wave of attacks was already on its way. Skrill had the momentum in the fight and his attacks were getting faster and faster. He mixed up his patterns to make sure Kirito couldn't build up any rhythm or get a foothold back into the fight. The pressure began to pile up as Kirito's HP bar fell into the lower half of yellow, which lead to a rushed and poorly timed thrust. Skrill didn't miss his chance to capitalize. He let the blade graze his side, avoiding as much damage as possible, and closed the remaining space between them. His arm wrapped around Kirito's sword arm like a snake and the length of Kirito's sword turned instantly turned into a disadvantage.

"Checkmate!" Skrill stuck the blade deep into Kirito's sword arm, earning a pain filled scream and disabling his ability to bring his sword back.

"Kirito!" yelled Asuna worriedly.

' _It's over._ ' Kirito closed his eyes in pain as he waited for the finishing move.

"Oh no, no, no, it isn't over yet, my friend." Skrill twisted the blade that was in Kirito's arm and prompted another scream.

"That monster!" said Merlin as she clutched her fist in anger.

"Look at me!" Skrill put his other karambit up against Kirito's lower chin and pushed it upwards slightly to get him to tilt his head up. Kirito slowly opened his eyes and grimaced from the mind numbing pain coming from his arm.

"Just...get it over with."

"Oh I will, but first you will suffer as I have suffered. You are the same as them, I can see it in your eyes. You would run at the first sign of danger and leave your comrades behind, wouldn't you?"

"What...are you talking about?"

"Once I win this duel and your party gets alienated. I'm going to hunt you all down and kill you one by one. I want you to tell them…to tell them that this will all have been your fault," said Skrill without blinking once as he licked his lips once more.

Kirito's eyes blurred, his ears began to ring, and his breathing began to be ragged. His mind raced as he imagined his friends being slaughtered one by one; Agil, Klein, Merlin...Asuna...

Skrill laughed maniacally. "Now _that's_ an expression I like."

Kirito's head fell once more as his hopes and HP drained away, he whispered. "I…"

"Hmm, what's that?" Skrill leaned in closer to try and hear his opponent's plead of mercy better.

Instead, he was met with a tough head-butt. "I said, it's not over yet!" Kirito followed with a strong shove with his free shoulder and yanked his pinned arm back. The wedged blade was ripped out of his sword arm, slashing through the tendons and tissues. The scene was gruesome but not nearly as horrific as the image he had in his head. He charged up another attack but Skrill was able to snap out of his shock. The strike didn't connect but it knocked one of Skrill's karambit out of his hand.

Instinctively, Skrill retreated a few steps back and recomposed himself. "Still got a little fight in ya?"

"More than a little." Kirito switched his sword arm as his injured arm went limp and gave Skrill an emotionless stare, his eyes burning with a cold anger. The coldblooded killer aura from Kirito sent a shiver down Skrill's spine and his legs began to shake slightly. "Get ready, Skrill."

' _Get a hold of yourself! I'm still in the yellow HP zone while he's one hit away from going down. There's no need to worry._ '

Kirito charged full speed at Skrill and his [Anneal Blade] glowed once more.

' _What a fool, a straightforward attack is the easiest to counter._ '

However, before Kirito was even halfway there he swept his blade upwards and unleashed the attack. Before Skrill even realized what was going on, the karambit that was on the floor had already hit him in his left eye.

The sudden pain and shock paralyzed him as he screamed in pain. Kirito roared as he charged up his attack once more and lunged at Skrill. First tried to counter but his new distorted vision caused him to only be able to scratch Kirito's cheek. The white sword penetrated through Skrill's chest plate and back, reducing his HP to zero. Kirito pulled his sword out of Skrill's body and allowed him to fall to the ground.

 _Duel End_

 _Winner: Kirito_

* * *

 **Author's Note: This took a little longer to write since (1) this is my first time writing an important fight scene, (2) I really wanted to try and have a high-quality one, and (3) school started. I hope you guys enjoy it and if you guys have any comments or suggestions, please leave a review. It honestly makes my day reading them, motivates me to write more and improves my writing! Since school started now, the frequency of my updates might be a little slower so please be patient and bear with me XD I put a lot of effort into writing this and if there's one chapter that you are going to review please review this one, tell me what I did well, what I did bad and what I can do to improve. Thank you for reading and I hope you guys have a wonderful day!**

 **For those of you who care…**

 **Behind the Page (scene :P)**

 **-I know in the anime they said that they disabled pain and there was no blood, but I decided to add it in. Might be a little unrealistic that the NerveGear passed regulations but screw it XD**

 **-the fight was inspired by the Raid 2 karambit fight scene and the Kakashi vs. Gotta (picking up the blade off the ground with the sword and throwing it)**

 **-at first, I considered making the fight like the one between Jon Snow and Karl from Game of Thrones, then I changed my mind and wanted Skrill to use push daggers and finally, I settled with karambit since the fighting style was so unique**

 **-the fight was supposed to show that the weapons' reach had great importance, I hope I was able to successfully communicate that (didn't want to write a paragraph about it)**

 **-Skrill's personality might have seen a little over the top but I wanted to show his strategic persona/mask in the 'Round Table Meeting' chapter and break it down to what kind of person he truly is in this one**

 **-the lips licking and speech was how I tried to communicate the previous point, hope I was able to do that as well (although it was pretty subtle, especially the speech)**

 **Tell me if you guys like this stuff, if you do I'll include the thought/writing process and decisions I make in a Behind the Page at the end of every chapter.**


	7. A New Leader

**Chapter 6 - A New Leader**

The crowd was silent in disbelief, the fight was turned on its head so instantaneously and, before they knew what was happening, the duel had ended. The raven haired swordsman remained standing in the arena singularly as the victor. Without saying a word, Kirito raised his fist in the air as the title above his head changed from [IV] to [I] and that was when the crowd erupted in cheers. Despite what anyone had thought of him before the fight, nobody could say that it wasn't a duel worth the applause.

"Kirito!" yelled Asuna as the group quickly made their way to his aid. The bloody, torn and limp arm was painful to look at. "Hang in there, Kirito."

"You've done well, and you've done enough," said Merlin as Kirito lowered his arm.

He let himself collapse into the arms of Klein and Agil as his last remaining strength drained away. Meanwhile, Skrill's group also got there and helped him heal up a little. Had this been a real duel, Skrill would have been dead, however, since they used the in-game dueling system, the lowest a player's HP can go is 1. His consciousness began to recover as he opened his uninjured eye and looked up at Kirito from the ground.

He gnashed his teeth as Kirito stared back at him indifferently. "Not this time, Skrill. Not ever."

"Klein, Agil, help me face the crowd. I need to say something as the new leader." Once he was facing the players, he moved one of his arms off of Agil's shoulder and opened up his menu, now with new privileges as First.

"Players of SAO," Kirito's voice resonated throughout the colosseum as the crowd settled down and listened to what he had to say. "First, I want to clear up the rumor about my party and I being PKer. In SAO, when a player attacks another player outside of the duel system, their icon will turn yellow; the duration depending on the damage dealt. However, when a player kills another player, their icon will undoubtedly turn red and that change is permanent. As you can see clearly, neither one of us has a red icon."

Whispers made its way around the audience area as one player posed a question that was on all of their minds. "What reason would Skrill have to frame you guys for a crime you didn't commit?"

"This brings me to the second thing I would like to address, and that is Skrill's secret agenda. From the very beginning, the plan was intended for the tank and support players to sacrifice themselves so that the DPS players could have a higher chance of survival. My party and I couldn't stand for such a ruthless ploy, which is why I challenged him."

Whispers turned to panic and disorder, as the shocking truth was brought to light. "How do you know that?!"

The crowd listened attentively as Kirito explained step-by-step how he arrived at that conclusion, the proof, and Skrill's reaction when he confronted him. The outrage that followed was fitting, players got out of their seats in anger and threw whatever they could find at Skrill.

"You bastards!"

"Monster!"

"How dare you think so little of all our lives?!"

"What do we do now Skrill?" asked Bandit as he tried to block some of the garbage with his hand.

Frustrated by his defeat and pushed to his mental limit, Skrill ordered, "It doesn't matter, we still have dozens of some of the highest leveled players! Kill them and we'll take back control after!"

Skrill's party was hesitant but Bandit pressured further as he drew out his sword first. "You heard the man!" The rest of the group followed suit and dozens of swords were unsheathed in seconds.

"Tch, he still wants to fight?" said Kirito as he tried to stand upright to get ready to fight again. However, his body was no longer cooperating, along with one of his arms being out of commission, he simply didn't have the energy left to battle again.

"Stay down," said Asuna sternly as she drew out her rapier, "you've already fought your fight." Klein drew out his katana, Agil brought up his shield and Merlin ignited her flames. "It's our turn now."

A myriad of colors appeared as both sides charged up their sword skills. "Attack!" Skrill's group charged in while Kirito's stayed near him, preparing to defend against the onslaught.

But right before the attacking group could make contact, a huge shockwave sent half of them flying back while the other half were intercepted by two figures in light blue and red. The combo worked expertly together as they knocked the weapons out of the hands of all the attackers and left them to run away in fear.

"If I remember correctly," said the knight as he lifted his greatsword off the group, leaving behind a fissure in the ground, "we voted to listen to First."

"That's what I was told," said the young man in a light blue monk outfit, he adjusted his conical hat and rested his dadao, a machete-like variance of the Chinese saber, on his shoulder.

"You wouldn't have needed to been told anything if you didn't get so drunk the night before," said the young woman in red as she sighed.

"Second! Eighth!" Support from other players wasn't out of question but Kirito didn't expect the other top ten members to act so soon. "And…um who are you?"

"AH, you're that guy that was at the bar!" exclaimed Klein as he recognized the outfit instantly.

The young man turned around and smiled a big smile. "Name's Jax! Nice to meet you, new First!"

Kirito breathed out a sigh of relief. "It's nice to meet you too."

"Do you know him, Kirito?" asked Asuna.

"Not personally, but I do know of him."

"Whoa, am I famous or something?" asked Jax excitingly.

"Sort of," said Kirito as he chuckled.

Looking at them from the other side of the arena, Bandit clutched his sword furiously. "It's that Chinese guy again! How dare they nonchalantly chat away as if we weren't even here?!" His sword glowed yellow as he charged in with two other players.

"Watch out!" yelled out Asuna as the three players closed in on Jax who still had his back turned.

Eighth stepped up but stopped when Jax extended out his hand. "They're mine."

Jax grinned as he dodged and ignored Bandit and got in front of the other two players. The other two tried to get a hit in but Jax got into a weird one-handed handstand and dodged them as well. His dadao glowed red as he pushed himself up into the air with the hand that was on the ground. The monk spun in midair and two of the attackers' weapons were instantly shattered by his powerful slash. Everyone watched in disbelief as he promptly took care of two players with ease. Once he landed on the ground, he adjusted his conical hat once more and rested his weapon on his shoulder.

"Ah, you're that guy that smashed my bottle of baijiu!" said Jax as he eyed his last opponent. "You were also talking all that good stuff, weren't you?"

Bandit was cornered, with the whole enemy group in front of him and Jax behind him. "Back then it was the time to drink, and now is the time to fight." Jax's weapon glowed red once more as his carefree look faded away and the title [III] appeared above his head. "So what do you say, Tenth? We're outside now."

Bandit was immediately shaken up as his legs gave out from the threatening look Jax gave him. He dropped his weapon and ran away as fast as he could all the while begging for mercy. "Wait where are you going?" said Jax with a disappointed look on his face as his blade cooled down. "I was going to make him pay for the alcohol he wasted…"

Skrill finally stood back up as more of his allies began to appear in the arena beside him. "Give up! It's twenty against eight, you are clearly outnumbered!"

"That's true," said Jax as he looked around him at the ranked players beside him, "but you are clearly outmatched."

"Tch!" Skrill signaled something with his hand and a few players with ranged weapons stepped forward. "Second, this is your last chance to get out unharmed! All I want is-"

"Skrill, the time to talk is over," said Second as he picked up his stance. "I hope you are ready to accept your punishment."

"Fine, then die with the rest of them!" The archers nocked their arrows but before they could even raise their arms to draw, the bows in their hands shattered one by one.

"What just happened?" asked Kirito, just as confused as his enemies were.

Jax cracked a smile as he noticed a new arrow that was embedded into the ground. "A helpful act from a benevolent soul, it seems."

At the top of the very last row of the colosseum stood a ranger in green, the strong gale blew his hood off revealing a head of silver-white hair and a pair of ruby eyes. "Why do you always have to be so anti-social, Robin!" complained the girl who stood next to him. "You should be down there with them!"

Ninth stayed silent for a second as he lowered his bow. "I dislike big crowds."

"Geez…you were never an honest one, big brother."

* * *

Back down at the arena, Skrill's forces were now left with only their melee weapons. "Shall we get started?" The combined aura of Second and Jax was enough to scare away most of Skrill's forces away. Skrill, now with nothing left, clutched at the karambit in his hand and looked at the opposing party.

Kirito saw the hate-filled look but then an idea hit him. ' _He's not looking at me…?_ '

Without warning Skrill charged in towards someone nobody was expecting, Agil. ' _If I can get rid of just one support player!_ '

But before the blade could even come close to the tank, Skrill was stopped and restrained. As he struggled against his captors, he rambled, "These cowards that you are all trying so hard to protect will be the first to run! That's the type of people they are! And when they betray you too, that's when you'll regret ever helping them!"

"Restrain him and lock him somewhere until we can decide an appropriate course of action," said Second as some of the players from his party came down. He then turned his attention to Kirito. "You have done a great thing today, and you have mine and the rest of the player base's thanks."

"It was nothing," said Kirito as he humbly accepted the compliment. "If I had lost or if you guys didn't show up, my party and I would have been in big trouble."

"That's where you are wrong Kirito," said Second as he patted Kirito's good arm and smiled fully for the first time. "It was your strength, courage and leadership that drove us all to act. My vote stays as it was, I would be happy if you led us through this game." The rest of the group nodded in agreement to Second's statement.

Kirito was at a loss for words, his goal was never to become the leader of this player base and he would never have thought that so many people would have even wanted him as their leader. "But shouldn't you be the leader? You were Second so now that Skrill is gone you should be next in line."

"The title on your head says otherwise, plus I'm not really fit to be a leader."

' _He's not fit to be a leader? He literally looks like he was born a leader!_ '

"Wait!" Jax intervened and paused as he organized his thoughts for a second. "If I beat Kirito in a duel, does that mean I would become the leader of the players?"

Eighth sighed and slapped his conical hat down over his eyes. "Don't even think about it; if you were the leader then we would all be doomed."

"Why do you always have to be so mean to me, Irelia?" said a dejected Jax which earned a small laughter from the gang.

"I'm surprised you weren't First to begin with, Jax," commented Merlin. "I heard you soloed the Area Leader, Alpha Wolf, all by yourself."

"He would have been if he didn't insist on completing that ridiculously long quest for that small bottle of alcohol!" The group all smiled in unison, they didn't know Jax for long but that was just something that seems like he would do.

"What about you, uh…"

"Arthur," replied Second.

"Did you know this was the guy who soloed the Giant Slime!" said one of Arthur's party members.

"You guys don't have to say it to everyone we meet."

"Well, I'm just saying, if you didn't spend all your time helping beginners out, you would have probably been First."

"Ohoho, looks like I have some competition!" said Jax as he took an interest in Arthur. "If I'm not allowed to be First then I'll at least aim to be Second!"

"Stop trying to pick fights with the other top ten members," said Irelia as she slapped Jax's hat out of position again.

"Enough has happened today," said Arthur as he couldn't help but smile, "let's save the date for another time."

Kirito addressed the crowd once more to make sure he cleared up any additional misunderstanding and to get the whole player base's opinion on who should be the next leader. It was unanimous, Kirito was voted in. He decided it would be best if they held off clearing the First Floor for a day or two, one to let his arm heal and two to give the players some time to adjust to all these sudden changes.

"Agil, do you mind helping out the craft players and getting more players involved? The sooner we can get an in-game economy running, the better. It'll help with morale and will allow these players to contribute in some ways as well," asked Kirito.

"You got it."

"I could use one or two more people to train the beginners," said Arthur.

"I could help," volunteered Klein.

"Same," said Merlin.

"What about you, Jax?" asked Arthur. "Are you free?"

"Training…? I wanted to go do that baijiu ques-"

"We'll help," said Irelia without letting her partner slip away.

"I'll hel-" said Asuna but was interrupted by Kirito as he tapped her on the shoulder.

"Asuna, do you mind helping me back to the inn? I don't think I'll be able to bandage my arm properly," said Kirito which earned him a sly look from the rest of his party members except Asuna. ' _At least allow me this one moment of selfishness as the leader, please._ '

"Sure, of course," said Asuna as he allowed Kirito to sling one arm over her shoulder and supported him.

The group went their separate ways and the two made their way towards the inn. On the way there the two passed by many players. As they walked past them the players cheered and applauded Kirito but amidst all that, both Kirito and Asuna heard something that made both of them blush slightly. "Wow, they are such a cute couple!"

"Sorry for putting you in this position," said Kirito.

"There's nothing to be sorry about," replied Asuna which made Kirito turn his head towards her.

"R-really?"

"Yeah, they're just rumors…right?"

"Oh, r-right…"

When the two arrived at the inn, Asuna quickly got Kirito onto a bed where he could rest. The potion was helping numb the pain a little but it still sent waves of agony throughout his entire body. Asuna got out the bandage they had stocked up as a party and began patching his arm up. "I can't even begin to imagine how much this hurt."

"It was unbearable, thought I was going to lose my mind," said Kirito as he felt relief settle in with the help of the healing spell, potions, and bandages.

"How were you able to continue to fight like that?" asked Asuna, genuinely curious. "I saw Skrill saying something to you, was that it?"

"Yeah."

"I knew it! What'd he say?"

"He said…" Kirito stopped and thought about it for a moment and smiled. "It doesn't matter what he said, it's just a bunch of empty words now."

"Hmm, if you say so…" said Asuna as she cupped Kirito's face to apply the healing on the cut on his cheek. Asuna's action took him by surprise and Asuna was so deep in thought that she didn't quite realize how intimate they looked. The cuts on his arms soon began to heal up, now all that was left were the cuts on his torso.

"You don't have to go that far," said Kirito as he blushed. "Those will heal on their own in time once my HP restores."

"No, my job as your doctor isn't done yet and I'm not stopping until you are fully healed!" insisted Asuna. The image of a bespectacled Asuna in a white doctor's coat flashed in Kirito's head but he quickly shook that image out of his head in case any more came up.

"Well…if you insist," said Kirito as he took off his armor and shirt.

His body wasn't very big in size but the muscles he did have were well toned from the kendo he did in real life. "Not bad…" said Asuna as she accidentally let her thoughts slip out of her mouth.

"Huh?"

"I-I-I mean t-the…CUTS, yeah the cuts don't look that bad!" stammered Asuna as she felt like bursting from embarrassment.

"Really?" Kirito looked down at his own torso and saw all the nicks Skrill got in.

"Let's just get on with the treatment!" Asuna couldn't bring herself to apply the healing magic directly by making contact with the wound. She had enough conscious left to keep herself from feeling him up. That would be the utmost awkward point of no return and she would never be able to be in the same room with him ever again if she did that.

Trying to distract herself, she asked once again, "I'm still curious, what did Skrill say?"

At that moment, the sunset and the room turned dark within a few seconds. Asuna looked up and found Kirito staring straight at her, and onyx eyes met hazel ones. The mood seemed to have suddenly changed, the awkwardness was gone and all that was left was a warm feeling in their heart and cheeks. All of a sudden, as if possessed by something, Kirito brought Asuna in for a hug.

"He said he would hurt you."

It was a whisper, but Asuna caught the hint of fear and desperation in his voice. But her head was sent spinning as her hand made contact with his abs and her teenage girl mind could no longer handle it. She pulled away slightly, "I-I think we're done." She quickly got up from her seat and left out the door as quickly as she could.

Kirito was left alone in the room as the last few seconds replayed in his mind and set his whole face on fire. "I just did something really weird, didn't I?" said Kirito to himself as he covered his face in embarrassment.

As soon as Asuna got back in her room, she collapsed onto her bed. Her face flushed and her heart beating a hundred beat a second. "What was that!" She tried to rationalize what just happened but she couldn't calm herself down. The scene just kept replaying in her head over and over again. "Stop it Asuna! You're not that kind of girl!" Asuna buried her face into the pillow, but no matter how much she tried to suppress or deny it, a part of her wanted to find out, what would have happened if she didn't pull away…

* * *

 **Author's Note: I just had to end it with some Kirito and Asuna fluff XD Drop a review and tell me what you guys think of these OCs so far! Which one is your favorite and how do you think they will interact with the original cast? If you have any comments, suggestions, or constructive criticism, do not hesitate in leaving a review or sending me a PM! I really appreciate it when you guys give me feedback on my work and it keeps me motivated in uploading regularly! Thank you for reading and I hope you guys all have a nice day!**

 **Behind the Page**

 **-Jax's personality is largely inspired from Shanks (One Piece), don't know if you guys noticed that the bar scene was imported over :P**

 **-he is meant to be very laid back and maybe even a little childish sometimes but, if I haven't already made it clear, he is going to be one of the strongest players in SAO**

 **-Irelia design is inspired by League of Legends and honestly, her abilities are still a work in progress XD**

 **-Arthur's design is inspired from Wakatoshi Ushijima (Haikyuu) and just saying I'm super hyped about his future role in the story (that's all I'm going to say for now :O)**

 **-Robin's design is inspired from Hayama Akira (Shokugeki no Souma) and his little sister's design is still not finalized XD**

 **-I tip my hat to Robin Hood, it was just too perfect with the design I had in mind (green ranger outfit with a matching hood)**

 **-added a little bit more to Skrill's character in this chapter to kind of explain his madness and you'll see a bit more in either the next chapter or the chapter after that (not sure if you guys spotted it!)**

 **Response to Reviews**

 **Lonewolf13HAR** **: LOL TRUE! I didn't even notice that Skrill was like a fusion of Kayaba and Sugou but after you mentioned it it's so clear. To be honest, I think if I changed how I introduced Skrill then the personality thing could have been a bit smoother and less extreme but overall I think he came out more or less how I wanted him to be. Thanks a lot for reviewing once again and if you see any flaws please don't hesitate to point it out. I value the opinions of my readers a lot and you've already helped me with a problem already so even more so XD**


	8. Challenging the Kobold Lord

**Chapter 7 – Challenging the Kobold Lord**

 _1:49 AM November 9, 2022_

The pitch black curtains of the night were drawn over the sky as the eerie darkness invaded every corner of the town. A thick mist settled onto the town and the streets looked as if God himself had begun erasing the structures. The obscured moonlight shone into a cell through a small window and, as if it was a spotlight, revealed a tied-up prisoner.

The prisoner looked outside and licked his lips. "Hey guard, can I get some water?" asked the prisoner.

"Be quiet! You just had a cup not so long ago!" said the guard impatiently.

"But you know, being tied up and locked in a cell is thirsty work," said the prisoner as he laughed to himself. "Say, isn't it boring watching over me? I'm tied up and locked up, you could just go take a nap or something. Nobody will notice. You'll wake up tomorrow morning, I will still be here tied up and locked up and you would have gotten your beauty sleep. And boy do you need it!"

"I was given orders to watch over you during this time and I plan on following them."

"Orders eh? Who were they from?"

"The new commander, Kirito."

"Ah, of course, of course! You definitively want to follow them to a T! Wouldn't want to end up like me, right?"

The guard didn't respond so the prisoner decided to try something else. "Let me ask you something, why do you follow Kirito?"

"He's the commander."

"Yes he's the commander, but I'm asking why YOU follow him."

"He has all of the players' best interest in mind, unlike you."

"Are you sure about that? What makes you think he wouldn't abandon you people, who are nothing but strangers to him?"

"He isn't like that!"

"Oh, so you know him personally?"

"No…"

"So you are just assuming then? Wow, that's quite the gamble, you know?"

The guard hesitated and wasn't sure how to answer the prisoner. "Do you have anyone you care about here?"

"Yeah, my friends are stuck here as well, but we're all going to escape alive!"

"Ah, I once had someone like that as well," said the prisoner in a whisper. "She also had the same type of ideology you have. Want to know what happened to her and her friends? Let me tell ya it wasn't pretty."

"Alright, that's it! If one more word comes out of your mouth I'm going to shut you up!"

The prisoner laughed maniacally. "Classic! Someone who has their groundless beliefs challenged gets angry! How stupid!"

The guard got up from his chair and picked up a blunt weapon. "Oh, I am sooo scared! Help me, the guard is going to hit me!" said the prisoner sarcastically as he continued to laugh.

"We'll see if you can continue to laugh," said the guard as he unlocked the cell and walked towards the prisoner. "Since one of your eyes is already blinded, maybe I should blind the other one too."

The prisoner smiled and licked his lips. "C'mon then."

The guard raised his weapons and brought it down hard. But instead of hitting the prisoner, the weapon caught nothing but thin air. The next thing he knew the prisoner was behind him with his curved blade at his throat.

"P-Please don't kill me," begged the guard. "I'll do anything."

"You know, now that I have a better look at you. You look a lot like someone used I know." The blade inched closer into the guard's throat and a small cut appeared. "You both have this same shit-eating expression when your life is in danger!"

The prisoner paused and dropped his voice to a whisper. "You want to know what I did to him?"

Dead silence was the answer he got, and it was the one he was looking for.

* * *

The sun painted the sky dark orange as it peaked its head over the mountains. The rays of light poured through the windows of Kirito's room and woke him up from his deep sleep. He could hear the birds chirping energetically outside but he was anything but energetic. The last few days have been draining, to say the least. Getting the player base reorganized, the in-game economy running, Skrill's lackeys converted and the new players trained took an immense amount of effort and time.

' _Who knew being a leader was_ this _hard?_ ' thought Kirito as he sighed to himself, now with some new appreciation for the guild leaders he met in the earlier MMORPGs he played. On top of doing all that work, he had to actively interact with as many players as he could and try his best to meet their needs. ' _And I thought I would be playing solo…_ '

There was a knock on his door and a voice followed. "Kirito, wake up." It was Merlin. If there was one person that was working harder than Kirito, it would be her. Watching new players trying to cast spells was hard to watch, he couldn't even imagine how hard it was to teach. Many players didn't understand channeling time, which is the time it takes a spell to charge up or get ready, so their spells would either fizzle out because it wasn't charged for long enough or blow out of control because it was charged for too long. Needless to say, the first day of magic training was an absolute nightmare, however, to Kirito's surprise, Merlin dealt with it quite well. He thought she wouldn't have been able to handle the incompetency of her students with her no-nonsense attitude but she was incredibly patient and dedicated.

Another knock came, "Kirito, wake up."

Compared to Robin, who literally left on the first day after all his students failed to even hit the target, and Jax, who, if not for Irelia, would have left equally as quickly, Merlin has been outstanding. One thing they found out while training the new players was that some players, despite having the system's aid, simply couldn't fire a bow or cast a spell well. Which led to a huge amount of time lost when they had to move to a different role.

Kirito finally mustered up the courage and got out of his warm bedsheets into the embrace of the cold morning. He moved his injured arm a bit and was happy to find out that it had fully recovered. He took off the bandages and found a small scar where he was injured. ' _Hmm, it doesn't look all that bad,_ ' thought Kirito as he looked down at it and inspected it further from different angles in front of the mirror.

The third knock came, this time thunderously loud, but her tone remaining the same. "Kirito, wake up." Kirito quickly got dressed, if he made her wait any longer, there wouldn't be a fourth knock…

"Hey, morning," said Kirito as he opened the door.

"Morning." The two walked down together to the dining hall in the inn they were staying at and met up with the other party members.

Once they got seated a few players there greeted Kirito. "Good morning, commander!"

"Good morning," answered Kirito as he gave a slight nod of acknowledgment.

"Commander, eh?" said Klein as he looked up from his plate.

"I never asked them to call me that but at least it's better than being referred to as First all the time."

"Perks of being the strongest player in SAO."

"This isn't a perk, just a whole ton of work," said Kirito as he sighed and looked around.

"Where's Asuna? She hasn't been eating with us for the last couple days," commented Klein, which earned a slight reaction from Kirito.

"I see her around town pretty often. Had lunch with her yesterday too," said Merlin.

"She swung by to visit when I was working with the craft players," said Agil.

"Yeah, she greeted me too when we were training the new players. So I'm confused as to why she decided to stop eating with us." Kirito remained silent and the attention of the whole table turned to him.

"Did you do something, Kirito?"

"I…may or may not have hugged her while I was half-naked…" His teammates looked at him with a weird expression as they pictured the scene in their heads. "I-It's really not what it sounds like."

Merlin's expression remained blank as she stared down Kirito with a look of pure disgust. "Pervert. Sexual harasser. A guy who takes advantage of high school girls."

"Wait, wait, you need to hear the full story first!"

"What story?" Kirito turned around to find Arthur, accompanied by Asuna, at their table.

"N-noting, don't worry about it," said Kirito as he cast a glance at Asuna. "M-morning Asuna."

"Morning," said Asuna as she looked away to avoid the awkward eye contact.

"Are we still good for the raid today?" asked Arthur, noticing the weird atmosphere in the room.

"Yeah, after we finish eating we'll double check our supplies and manpower then we'll head on to the dungeon," responded Kirito as he refocused. "Do you mind going ahead to the meeting point?"

Arthur nodded, "We'll wait for you at the city's gate then." With that, he and Asuna stepped out without a word more.

"Wow, tough luck man. She didn't even look at you," said Klein as he patted his friend's shoulder sympathetically.

"And I think she's been hanging out with Arthur a lot these past few days," said Agil which irked Kirito even more.

"Well, it doesn't necessarily mean she likes him, right?" said Kirito as he looked at his friends for reassurance.

"I'm sorry for your loss," said Merlin as she patted his shoulder sympathetically and walked out.

"Wait, what is that supposed to mean?!"

* * *

 _10:59 AM November 9, 2022_

A huge group of players gathered at the entrance of the kobold dungeon, where Illfang the Kobold Lord, the First Floor Boss, lied in wait. In the end, barely 100 players were high enough level to safely participate in the raid. Out of all the players who mustered up the courage to level after the first day, most were doing it inefficiently. Either their party size caused the EXP share to be too small or they didn't take full advantage of doing Kill Quest and Gather Quest. Although their numbers are not big, thanks to Kirito's leadership, the raid group had a proper balance of DPS, tank, and support players.

Kirito checked his menu, ' _93, huh? I guess it's to be expected that some people don't show._ ' The absence of a few players was disappointing but expected. "Alright everyone, listen up!" Kirito stood atop a big rock and addressed the group. "Take it slow and watch each other's' backs! You guys should all have been given a set of potions; make those last and try your best to save them for the boss fight! Lastly…" Kirito took a pause and looked around. "I want to see every single one of you once we get to the 2nd Floor. That's an order."

The raid group roared in agreement as the players raised their weapons in the air and entered the dungeon. The pitch black cave was lit up by only a few torches that were on the walls, casting huge shadows as the adventurers walked past them. There were no enemies in sight but the players could hear light footsteps and strange lizard-like sounds all around them. The lack of visibility and the creepy noises kept the tension high and strained their nerves. All of a sudden, a group of kobold ambushed them from the darkness and caught them off guard. Some players were sent into a frenzy as the sheer number of enemies quickly overwhelmed them. However, Arthur was able to defend the players who were shaking with fear. His greatsword blocked the attacks of multiple kobold ambushes without giving even an inch. He pushed them back and cleaved through all of them in one clean swing.

"There's no need to panic. They are no different than the monsters you've faced outside. Stay calm and collected and you take away their power from the dark," said Arthur as he looked back at the ones he protected.

Wave after wave came at the group from different sides but thanks to the spread of the top players, each part of the formation were covered well. "If you use the same jump scare over and over, it gets quite boring you know?" said Jax as he took care of the ambushers with ease.

As Asuna dealt with her group of ambushers, Kirito noticed one kobold that was sneaking up behind her. "Asuna, watch out!" Kirito quickly dashed over and finished off the one behind her.

"K-Kirito?" said Asuna as her face flushed instantly from the sight of him.

"You have to pay more attention to your surroundings," said Kirito as he got closer, but that caused Asuna to quickly back away without looking. It wasn't until it was too late that they noticed the trip wire on the ground. The ground beneath them caved in and the duo fell into a lower section of the cave.

"Kirito! Asuna! Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, yeah we're fine," said Kirito as he and Asuna crawled out from a couple of small rocks that were on top of them. "We'll find a way back up and meet you guys at the boss room entrance!"

"Alright," Klein turned back from the hole in the ground and conveyed the message to the rest of the party.

As soon as Klein's figure disappeared, Kirito grabbed Asuna by her shoulders. "What the hell is going on with you?! You could have died there! Is this about what happened that night?"

"W-W-What do you mean?" stammered Asuna as she tried to get away from him.

"Oh don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. First, you stopped eating with us and now you seem to lose your mind every time I get close to you," Kirito let go of her and turned around. "I see you're quick to forget your precious original party members and to run off with your new boyfriend."

"New boyfriend?!" yelled Asuna, absolutely shocked by what she was just accused of.

"I see you hanging around Arthur," said Kirito as he crossed his arms, back still facing her.

"I was just training and teaching the players sword skills with him," said Asuna, defending herself.

"Sure you were," said Kirito sarcastically.

Kirito's tone and behavior were getting on her nerves so she decided to strike back. "Well, at least Arthur is decent enough to apologize when he does something wrong. Unlike SOMEONE I know."

"What?! I did apologize! I sent you like ten messages!"

"You should have said it in person!"

"In person?! Do you know how busy I've been these last few days?"

"Yeah, so busy that you couldn't just drop by and say: 'Hey Asuna, I know I like SEXUALLY HARASSED you last night, so I would like to apologize to you and I hope you are doing okay.'"

"S-Sexually harassed?!" stuttered Kirito as his face turned red. "W-Well okay, if that's how you see it! I meant for it to be like an amiable hug but clearly, someone's mind is in the gutter!"

"You were shirtless!"

The two's loud bickering was not unnoticed, and it took just a moment of pause for the two to realize the countless number of glowing eyes in the darkness that surrounded them. "Forget it, let's just try to regroup with the main group for now."

"Yeah, gotta get back to my boyfriend," said Asuna, taking one last sarcastic jab at Kirito. Kirito simply shook his head and raised his sword.

The swordsmen made short work of the low-leveled kobolds but were stuck with a whole other problem. "So…how are we going to get back up there?"

"I…don't know…"

"You told them to go on ahead without a plan?"

Kirito remained silent and swallowed nervously. Asuna sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Well, let's try to see if we can find a tunnel that connects this level and the upper one."

The duo tried but it was easier said than done, the bottom level didn't have any source of light. After a couple minutes of blindly walking around and having no results to show, Asuna sighed and decided to see if Kirito had any luck. "Did you find anything?" A dead silence was the response she got. "Kirito?" Still nothing. "Kirito, you here?"

A chill ran down her spine, being in a pitch black cave with someone else and alone were two completely different things. "Kirito, this isn't funny…" said Asuna as she stumbled around and tried to feel out the cavern.

The raven haired swordsman didn't dare move an inch, as he watched his partner trying desperately to find him. The small blade curved around his neck and pointed its sharp fang at his throat. All he could do was try to control his breathing and remain calm. ' _How is he here?_ '

" **One move, one word, and I'm going to kill you."**

* * *

 **Author's Note: Looks like I finally missed my weekly-ish update quota XD Hope you guys didn't feel like it was too long of a wait! I always say this, but I'm going to say it again, reviews give me a lot of motivation to write and really makes my day so I urge you to take some time out of your day to tell me what you guys think of my work!**

 **Response to Reviews**

 **Zandaino-Nova-Ari** **: Thanks for taking the time to leave a review! A lot of criticism for the original SAO was that the game itself was pretty bad and not really given a lot of thoughts. So with my work, I'm really trying to craft a game that would actually be fun if it were real!**

 **TheSoloPlayer: Thanks for taking the time to review once again! It's always encouraging seeing a reader returning for every new chapter!**

 **ulttoanova:** **Thank you so much reviewing! I'm happy many people are enjoying the Kirito and Asuna moments and I'm definitively excited to bring you guys more! BTW you were the 25** **th** **review and that was a goal I was trying to hit so thank you for helping me reach it XD**


	9. A Product of this World

**Chapter 8 – A Product of this World**

"One move, one word, and I'm going to kill you."

Ignoring the warning, Kirito gave him a hard elbow in the stomach and tried to warn his partner. "A-"

The sound caught her attention but she was still unable to see where it was coming from. "Kirito?!"

Skrill quickly covered up Kirito's mouth with his hand to prevent any more sounds from escaping. "Shh, shh," he whispered as he held the blade closer to his throat. "I will do it the next time, don't test me." Kirito turned his head and he saw his figure in the darkness. "Oh I can see it in your eyes, you're wondering how I am here. Don't worry about it, that's a story for another time."

"Kirito, are you okay?!"

' _Need to find a way out of this hostage situation first, then Asuna and I can easily take him on 2 versus 1._ ' Kirito considered his options; reaching for his weapon is out of the question and trying to struggle physically will get himself killed. ' _Damn it! This place is so dark that I can't even tell where I am or what my surrounding is like!_ ' An idea popped into his mind as he realized that this darkness was actually a blessing in disguise. The plan wasn't foolproof but it was the best option he had, now all he had to do was wait.

"Let me tell you what's about to happen," whispered Skrill, "there are traps similar to the one you triggered above that will collapse into an even deeper level. Once you fall down to the lowest level, there's no saving that person. It's complete darkness and the spawn rate is much higher. How long do you think it will be before your lady friend stumbles into one?"

' _How much longer?_ ' thought Kirito as he waited anxiously for his plan to begin working. Asuna kept searching for him and was walking deeper and deeper into darkness, where she couldn't tell where her footing was. At any second it could be too late.

"I know you think you are better than me Kirito, but once you have experienced what I have experienced, you'll know the errors of your ways. You and I, we're quite similar you know. I know you would do anything to protect the people you care about." Skrill paused. "I too once had-"

Before he could finish his sentence, four kobolds leaped out of the darkness and attacked him. The opportunity Kirito was waiting for finally arrived and he quickly got out of Skrill's grip. "Asuna, don't move there are traps around here!"

"Kirito?! What's going on?!"

"How is this possible?! There shouldn't be any new monsters spawning when players are here!" yelled Skrill. Normally a player at his level would be easily capable of dealing with such low-level monsters, however, in the darkness, the kobolds who still have their sight intact have a strong edge.

 _[The Red-Tusked Horn]_

 _Once a day, by equipping this item, you can attract the aggression of nearby monsters. (Duration 5 minutes)_

' _Good thing I kept this item around for good luck even though Merlin thought it was useless,_ ' thought Kirito as he retreated towards Asuna, where there was more light to work with. A temporary sense of relief washed over Asuna, as he saw Kirito's figure run towards her. Right as she was about to call out to him, the ground beneath him began to cave in. Kirito didn't know who set off the trap, maybe it was his own carelessness, maybe it was Skrill or maybe it was one of the kobolds. All he knew was that at that moment was that he was falling into a pitch black hole and that he was going to die.

' _Is this it?_ ' Time felt slow as he was falling. ' _At the very least, I managed to save her._ ' But before the darkness could swallow him, a hand caught his and stopped his fall. He looked up to see Asuna desperately holding on to him. To his horror, he felt someone grab onto his ankle and he could feel Asuna's grip loosening. The extra weight was too much for Asuna and Kirito could feel her slowly slide towards the pit. "Let us go Asuna!"

Asuna rebutted stubbornly, "No. Freaking. Way."

"Listen Asuna, at this rate you're just going to end up dying with us!"

"Stop being so damn selfish!" Her statement was so irrationally illogical that it stunned him. "Always going around risking your life, how do you think I'll feel if you died?! Now stop complaining and be less heavy!"

Kirito gritted his teeth. ' _Why is that girl so stubborn?!_ ' There was only one option left, all he had to do was let go of her hand. At that moment, he would be lying if he said he wasn't afraid. If he let go, his life would be over. He would never see his friends, his family, the real world again. He would be left with nothing. But when he saw that Asuna was now at the edge and about to fall in as well, he steeled himself.

"I'm sorry."

Just as he was about to let go he felt Skrill let go of his ankle. "We really are…alike." With the extra weight gone, Asuna managed to pull Kirito up. Neither of them understood what just happened.

Kirito yelled out, unable to suppress this feeling that even surprised him. He just escaped death by the skin of his teeth and his enemy that had put him in that situation…was the one that saved him? "Why did you do that!?"

"Don't be mistaken…that was no favor…You have darker days ahead of you…Kirito…," said Skrill as he coughed out blood. "This world…it will change you…and one day, when you have lost everything…you will wish that you have died here."

"What does that mean?! Skrill, answer me! Skrill!"

The sound of his voice was fading, as Skrill closed his eyes. He could feel that several of his bones were broken from the fall, some may have even punctured one or two internal organs. ' _No matter,_ ' he thought, ' _I'm coming to see you…Josephina…_ '

Silence was the answer he got, and it wasn't the one he was looking for. Kirito couldn't bring himself to feel thankful for this miracle. His whole view of what's good and evil has just been completely flipped.

"Hey," said Asuna as she put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"I don't understand…why did he do that?"

Asuna put her other hand on his shoulder and looked him straight in the eye. "Why he did that? Whether he was good or bad? We can figure it out together later. For now, I'm just happy that you're still with me. So let's get out of here and join up with the others, okay?"

Kirito nodded, but before they got up he leaned in for a small hug. "Thank you by the way, for not letting go."

Asuna blushed at the gesture. "Of course I wasn't going to let go! I promised to protect you didn't I?"

Kirito chuckled slightly. "Yeah you did, bet you didn't think it would be such a bother, did you?" Kirito then realized the position they were in and quickly apologized. "Oh, sorry!"

"It's fine…" said Asuna as she tightened the hug. "It's fine."

* * *

"What took you two so long?! We were getting worried!" said Klein as the duo regrouped with the main team. "You better not have been flirting while you made us wait!"

"Skrill ambushed us," said Kirito, the statement surprised and alerted everyone. "But we managed to deal with him."

"Did you captured him?" asked Arthur, but deep down he already knew the answer from Kirito's demeanor.

"No."

"Did he get away?"

"No." There was a pause as everybody stayed silent. Nobody liked Skrill but each had their own opinions on how he should have been dealt with.

"Did you…"

"We didn't kill him," interrupted Asuna.

"There was a pit trap…Skrill sacrificed himself and saved both of us," said Kirito. He wasn't sure if that was the correct thing to say as the leader, maybe it would have been better to say that he died in an accident. But he felt that it was the right thing to say. To deny his good deed would be the same as denying his bad ones.

There were whispers among the adventurers as everyone began to speculate what happened. One curious adventurer shouted out, "Can you tell us what happened? Why did he do that?"

Kirito thought about it for a bit. "I don't have the answers to those questions. In the end, I think he was just a product of this world. Whether he was good or evil…" Kirito walked up to the boss room door and pushed it open. Illfang was sitting at the end of the room and looked up to see the adventurers that were here to challenge him. His red eyes glowed fiercely as he let out a thunderous roar. "Maybe we'll find out if we ask the creator of this world."

* * *

 **Author's Note: I know this chapter is shorter than usual but I just wanted this chapter to be about wrapping up Skrill's character. Next chapter we have our first boss fight!**

 **I hope the part about Skrill's sacrifice wasn't too polarizing. I also assume that Kirito's reaction was a bit weird but I think it was justified. Skrill was pretty much evil personified in Kirito's eyes but in that moment, Skrill sacrificed himself to save them. That contradiction is extremely intense; on top of just emotionally coming to terms with sacrificing himself, he just couldn't understand why someone like Skrill would do that for him and Asuna. I hope I was able to communicate that through my writing XD. I know his character wasn't done perfectly but I do hope that you guys still enjoy this complexity. Leave a review and tell me what you guys think!**

 **Response to Reviews**

 **Some Guy: I hope I didn't disappoint you XD**


	10. Kill the Beast

**Chapter 9 – Kill the Beast**

The boss room was humongous; covered in rainbow-colored tiles and supported by onyx pillars. It was a beautiful throne room, but it was hosting a not-so-beautiful lord who was not so welcoming to visitors. It greeted them with a roar that made everyone's ears ring. Its muscles tensed up, and its red fur stood up straight as it got ready to fight. The two-meter-tall monster wasn't planning to wait for the adventurers to come, but rather wanted to be the one hunting them down. It quickly equipped its bone axe and buckler. The three Ruin Kobold Sentinels spawned in at the battle cry of their lord and charged in with it. It was fast paced, intense and intimating, but the players didn't come here to check out the nice looking throne room, they were here to kill the lord. Kirito responded quickly to the move of Illfang and his sentinels. "EVERYONE IN FORMATION!"

At his command, the players spread out into five different teams. Team A, B, and C were tasked with killing the sentinels and D was the vanguard tasked with dealing with Illfang. Team E was the rear guard, composed of ranged archers, mages, and healers, who all stayed behind the melee units. The two sides clashed in the middle, as Kirito's blade met Illfang's axe, the First Floor Boss Battle has begun!

Illfang was bombarded with barrages of magic and arrows in rotating cycle so that when the magic users needed to regenerate their mana, the bow and arrow units could substitute in. Team A, B, and C quickly spread apart to pull the sentinels away from their master, isolating their target. The first wave of sentinels fell quickly, but the next waves will get stronger as their lord's HP drop lower and lower. Meanwhile, Illfang was showing its grit as the Floor Boss, taking on fifty adventurers' attacks at the same time with its HP barely tanking. It roared once again and raised its axe. The axe began to turn red and Illfang brought it down hard on the tank units. Most of the players dived out of the way, but those who forgot their training and tried to block the attack had their shields cracked, some even shattered at the force of the strike.

"Dodge that skill attack! It reduces armor! Asuna, get those guys out of there!" Asuna nodded and quickly went to pick up the tank players who just lost a significant amount of HP and armor from the hit. Before the team could regroup, Illfang raised its axe once more for another strike. ' _It can do that twice in a row? Shit, that wasn't in the briefing Skrill told us at the Round Table Meeting!_ '

The tank players were not yet ready to dodge another one but the crimson axe came down just as fast. The ear-piercing sound of steel against steel resounded around the room. Arthur's greatsword managed to stop the attack just in time for the tanks to move out of the way again. Furious that a mere human had stopped its attack, the Kobold Lord pressed down harder on its axe to try and crush Arthur. The pressure made his knees start to buckle as he felt himself slowly losing the battle in strength. Just as he was about to crumble under the pressure, a shield quickly came to his help as Agil pushed back against Illfang's axe to relieve some of the pressure. "Thank you!"

"I got you, brother!"

"Klein, on me!" ordered Kirito, as his blade charged up for an attack.

"Let's do it!" said Klein as he did the same.

The two young men both charged at one of Illfang's knee, their blades glowed blue and red and their strikes crossed at the beast's ligament. The result of the attack was immediately felt by the Kobold Lord as he lost his balance and pressure on Arthur and Agil. As soon as Arthur and Agil were no longer being held down, Agil pushed off the axe and Arthur leaped out and charged up his greatsword. The knight roared as he swung his greatsword. The slash was so brutal that the wind pressure had knocked back some of the players around. Unable to withstand the powerful attack of Arthur, Illfang's other knee gave out, causing the beast to lose balance completely, and fell flat on its back.

"NOW! EVERYONE! ATTACK!"

An inferno of magic and a hail of arrows came down at the defenseless Illfang. The countless glowing blades each left their own lines as the players slashed at the Floor Boss. The monster roared in pain as it lost one of its four bars of health. Their mini victory was short lived as Illfang swept his axe through the players that were still next to it, knocking all of them back. As soon as the lord stood back up, new sentinels spawned around him.

' _Damn it! Teams A, B, and C aren't regrouped yet!_ ' thought Kirito as he scanned the battlefield. The sentinel control teams joined the fight against the Floor Boss and were currently too spread out, some were even injured by Illfang's sweeping strike. They needed a change of plan to deal with the sentinel so that they can get back to fighting their master. "Asun-"

Without waiting for his commander's orders, the monk dashed past everyone. "I told you before, you don't need to worry about this team stuff," said Jax as he did a flip in midair and landed right in front of the three sentinels. "Just leave the sentinels to me!" Right on cue, one of the three sentinels swung at Jax with its stone mace. But its effort was in vain against one of the strongest players in Sword Art Online as Jax's dadao cleaved its left arm cleanly off, followed by its right leg and finally its head. The monk steadied himself as he readjusted his hat to look up at the beast.

"You're next." It wasn't known whether or not monsters were programmed with emotions. But the sight of its subject getting butchered right in front of it was definitively not pleasing to the Kobold Lord. The monster gnashed its teeth and roared louder than ever before. The room began to shake and the vibrations were lowering the players' HP and armor.

"You just HAD to make it angry!?" yelled Klein as he tried his best not to get blown away by the sheer force of the monster's shout.

' _Are you kidding me? Another buff?!_ ' Kirito gritted his teeth as he ordered the players to retreat. It was unfortunate but they would have to suffer an immeasurable loss if they kept the players there.

"Well, I guess I was sort of expecting something like this."

"I feel like our odds just got a lot worse."

"You don't say…"

"Keep focused! The real battle starts now!"

The only players left that were still in fighting conditions were the members of the top ten. This is what it came down to, the best players in Sword Art Online versus Kayaba Akihiko's first obstacle for them. The situation was almost like a narrative Kayaba himself had set up, and it somehow felt appropriate. Illfang's attack didn't come without a cost, it had sacrificed his second and third HP bar completely. But losing that second and third bar meant another three sentinels spawned. However this time the sentinels weren't equipped with stone maces but with steel halberds and were much taller than the normal sentinels. The ones that were already there also grew to the new sentinels' size and had their weapons upgraded as well.

One of the sentinels swung at Jax with their new weapons. He dodged it easily by jumping backward, but the sentinel quickly followed up with another swing. Its speed and new long reach took Jax by surprised but he managed to bring his dadao to block the swing just in time. He didn't get a single second of rest before the next sentinel lunged at him with its halberd. Jax tried to knock the halberd that was pinning down his dadao away but the sentinel was a lot stronger than before. The halberd approached his head quickly as he finally knocked the first one back. ' _Too late._ '

"Jax!" Kirito and Asuna both sprung rushed in at the same time, but neither of them was going to make it.

Crimson flashed before Jax's eyes and blood covered his face. "You're way too reckless."

Jax smiled and replied nonchalantly, "I wouldn't be me otherwise!"

"I guess so," Irelia smiled back and pulled her sword out of the dead sentinel's head. "Don't mind me joining you then."

"Of course!" said Jax as he smiled confidently and raised his blade over his shoulder.

* * *

"You sure we can leave it to just the two of them?" asked Arthur.

"We have a more pressing issue to deal with right now," said Robin calmly as Illfang charged at them. "What's the plan, First?"

"Don't get hit," said Kirito as the group dispersed to avoid their enemy's attack.

"Great plan."

* * *

"Let's take care of this quickly," said Jax as he took a glance at the other group that was dealing with Illfang.

"I don't think it'll be that easy," said Irelia as the four remaining sentinels' piercing red eyes stared them down through their helmets.

The four sentinels all charged at once and the duo met them halfway. Jax parried the attack of the first attacker and Irelia dodged the second one. But the numbers advantage was strong, as the third sentinel's halberd got a piece of Jax's side and the fourth one got a cut on Irelia's arm. The two managed to retaliate by returning some damage onto the sentinels but it wasn't enough to kill either of them. Blood trickled down his blue robes and a bead of sweat trickled down his face. You wouldn't have been able to tell that he was nervous, or even hurt, with that confident smile still on his face. The odds never seemed to be against him.

But Irelia knew better. "Jax…"

"I'm okay," said Jax as he breathed in a big breath of air. "I'm okay."

"We can't trade like that. We need to break their guard and land a well-aimed strike where there's no armor," said Irelia as calmly as possible. ' _Can't be shaken up right now. If we falter now, we're all going to end up dying._ '

"I'm going to break their guard with my sword skill and you need to slash at their neck or joint sections where there's no armor." The four sentinels got ready to charge again and there was little time left. "We're going for the second one on the right!"

Irelia managed to dodge the first two attackers successfully with her high SPD and EVA stats, but Jax had much more trouble. He barely managed to stumble past the second one and was not prepared for the third sentinel's attack. Realizing that Jax's condition was a lot worse than she expected, she quickly turned around to defend him. The last sentinel felt no remorse for them as he swung his halberd at Jax. His mind was aware of the attack, but his body was not responding. The wound on his side really took a toll, his vision was blurred and he felt a loss of balance as he fell to one knee.

"Jax!" screamed Irelia as she watched the blade come down. Jax managed to bring his weapon up at the last second but the guard only lasted for a second as the sentinel knocked it out of his hand. With nothing left to protect himself with, Jax stayed there awaiting his death as the sentinel raised its weapon again. Right before the sentinel could finish Jax off it paused. There was a hole in its chest that wasn't there before. It looked down to see a katana that had pierced through his torso, then the blade was gone. Before the sentinel could react, Klein slashed the ligament in the monster's knees, bringing it down to its hands and knees. The kobold sentinel did not know what had just happened. The only thing it knew was that the monk got up. The only thing it heard was the sound of its halberd being picked up. And the last thing it felt was its head being decapitated from its body.

"Thank you." That was all Jax could manage as he tried to catch his breath from swinging the massive halberd.

"Don't worry about it," said Klein as he breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm just glad I made it in time."

"I thought there was nobody other than us who were still in fighting condition after Illfang's attack."

"I asked them to heal me first so that I can rejoin."

Irelia took a look at Klein's HP bar, it was barely in the yellow zone. "You don't look that healed up to me."

"At least better than Jax here," said Klein as he handed him a health potion. "You should fall back, your HP is in the red and one more hit is going to be game over for you."

"I'm fine," said Jax as he propped himself up with the halberd.

"What are you-"

"We can't let these sentinels get past us, and right now we have better odds than ever to take them down," said Jax as he straightened up and got ready to fight again. The health potions were numbing the pain from his wound and the bleeding stopped as well. "It's finally a fair fight, 3 on 3."

"Tch, why are all the top players so reckless?" sighed Klein as he recalled all of the dangerous things Kirito has done.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to let him die on my watch," said Irelia as she charged up her sword skill.

"Wouldn't dare dream of it," said Jax as he laughed lightly.

The last three sentinels were done waiting and they were ready for the final charge. "We're finishing them off here!"

"[Blade Surge]!"

The monsters attacked but their speed was nowhere close to Irelia's with her sword skill; the black-haired beauty danced through their strikes and slashed their eyes. Without their vision, the kobolds were nothing more than practice dummies and Klein's katana easily crippled them one by one. There was no proof that monsters could feel feelings, but at that moment, their howls seemed to be full of despair. "Here comes your executioner." Jax lifted his halberd and slowly walked towards his victims. At the last few meters, he sped up and spun. Using his forward momentum and the added strength of the spin, the executioner took off the heads of the three sentinels. With their enemies finally defeated, Jax fell down in exhaustion as he breathed out a sigh of relief. "It's up to them now." With that said, Jax closed his eyes and passed out for a well-deserved rest.

* * *

A heap of rubble flew into the air as Illfang created another hole on the ground with his axe. However, none of his attacks were managing to connect as Kirito and co juggled around the aggression of the monster. Arthur played bait and once Illfang focused onto him, Kirito and Asuna would come in and perform a quick hit-and-run. Meanwhile, the rearguard composed of Merlin and Robin were slowly chipping away at its final HP bar.

' _Here it comes…_ ' thought Kirito as he braced himself for the final stage of the boss battle as Illfang's last HP bar finally fell into the red zone. Kirito and Asuna, the fastest members of their team, dashed in to pressure the moment they saw Illfang drop his axe and reach for his secondary weapon. The adventurers weren't going to let the Kobold Lord draw out his talwar for free. Annoyed at their little dance, Illfang threw his buckler like a boomerang. The shield flew at the duo at wind speed and made contact with both of them, knocking both of them back.

"Oof!" Kirito groaned in pain as he felt the bones in his ribs fracture. He looked over to check on Asuna and although they were both still alive, both of them were in the red. "You okay?"

"No big deal, you know, just a couple of bones," said Asuna as she winced in pain. Kirito gave her a worried look. "Just trying to lighten up the mood here."

With its talwar drawn, Illfang's speed and attack strength were now doubled and at this point, anybody hit would instantly be killed. Kirito stood up slowly, "Focus on dodging for now, and aim for a counterattack rather than trying to take his speed head on!"

Illfang's battle cry was louder than ever, it crouched down and put all of its strength in its back legs. Just like a sprinter, after three counts, it dashed forward with a huge burst of speed. It targeted the slowest one of them, Arthur who was wielding the heavy greatsword and wearing heavy armor. Dodging was not an option, but if it was a contest of strength, then he could still put up a fight. He lifted his greatsword above his head and began charging up his sword skill.

"Come!" The beast covered the distance in less than three steps, but that was enough for the sword skill to be ready. His greatsword glowed golden, and he roared back as he brought the shining steel down. "[Decisive Strike]!"

The powerful attack drew a crack in the floor and blew away everything that was in front of him. However, the beast was nowhere to be seen. "Arthur, above you!" The knight looked up and saw the monster up on the ceiling. Illfang had managed to jump up to avoid the damage and now he had the perfect angle on Arthur. Its legs pushed off the ceiling and gave it the same speed boost it had before. There was no way for Arthur to dodge the attack or counter in any way. Had he been alone, that would have been his death.

The green ranger knocked his arrow and pulled back the string. Hitting a moving target was incredibly difficult and a target that fast was near impossible. But Robin was the greatest archer in Sword Art Online, he was Ninth! Without the slightest bit of hesitation, Robin fired the arrow and released his breath. The arrow found Illfang's eye right as it was about to take the head of Arthur. Simultaneously, Merlin charged up a fireball and knocked Arthur out of the way. Disoriented by the loss of sight, Illfang hit the ground hard and at that moment the battle was decided. Not only had it failed to take out one of the raid members, it was also stunned by the impact.

Arthur cracked Illfang's chest plate, and Kirito and Asuna carved an X, a target point, on its heart. "Light it up." Merlin concentrated all of her remaining mana and infused it with Robin's arrow head. Robin drew in a breath of air and knocked the arrow. He pulled back the string and took aim. ' _The target is defenseless and still…c'mon, even an amateur can do this._ '

He released the string and everybody watched as the small arrow with a flaming arrowhead arched through the air. The arrow found its target on the bullseye and lodged itself into Illfang's body.

 _[Houyi's Arrow]_

The small ball of concentrated fire detonated and imploded Illfang from the inside with a scorching red fire. The remains of Illfang turned into multicolored pixels and fell from above along with its ashes. The majestic fire burning fiercely in front of them as thousands of rainbow pixel shards fell from above. The dark imperfection of the ash fall simply made it all the more memorable.

This was the players' first victory.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Phew, that was one hell of a scene to write! Keep telling me what you guys think of the fight scenes if the action sequences are not making sense please don't hesitate to leave a comment pointing it out. I'm always trying to improve my writing to deliver to you guys more intense and exciting action/fight scenes. If you have the time, drop a review to tell me what you think of the story/characters/writing so far, whether it's a compliment or a constructive criticism, it always makes my day reading you guys' reviews. Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day!**

 **Behind the Page**

 **-Houyi is a legendary Chinese archer who was said to have shot down 9 suns to save the world from the severe drought :D**

 **-the final form of the sentinels was based on the halberd-wielding enemies in Dark Souls, they were extremely lanky and I wanted to really emphasize the strength of their long reach**

 **Response to Reviews**

 **spoonav: It's always nice to see you coming back to read my story. Thank you for the continuous support and I hope you keep sticking with me till the end!**

 **TheSoloPlayer: Thank you for being awesome and reviewing again!**

 **bioben7: Hope the wait was worth it, have a nice day!**

 **Sp1derAp0calypse: Thank you so much for the review, I honestly really appreciate it when people tell me what they think of the characters! You are absolutely right, Skrill's character wasn't perfectly written and there were definitively some things I would change if I could go back. However, now that I have the experience of writing a villain, you better bet my next one is going to be much better! XD**

 **ENDDRAGON369: Thanks for reviewing! I hope you stuck around even though you don't really enjoy the Kirito and Asuna pairing. Although Kirito and Asuna's relationship is still going to play a part in this story, I hope you continue to read my work and enjoy the other elements of this fanfic.**


	11. Athens

**Chapter 10 – Athens**

The feeling wasn't sinking in. A whole week of preparation and grinding. A long hard fought battle. It was a surreal feeling now that they've finally conquered the boss. "W-We did it…" It was a whisper. The burning corpse of Illfang wasn't enough. They needed the verbal confirmation of another to make sure that what was happening was real. And indeed, a whisper was all that was needed. "WE DID IT!" The adventurers shouted in celebration as they raised their weapons. They cheered, hugged, and some even cried as the giant [ _Congratulation!_ ] hologram sign appeared in front of them.

"Did I miss something," said Jax, who was still lying on the ground, as he opened his eyes.

"Nope," said Irelia as she smiled brightly down at him.

"Hey, you look kinda cute like that," said Jax drowsily. "Why are you red?"

"Shh, go back to sleep, you're tired." Jax nodded in response as Irelia covered his face with his hat.

Klein popped up behind Agil and Arthur, and slung his arms around their shoulders. "WOO LET'S GO!"

"Don't be so excited. This is only just the first floor, we still got 99 more to go," said Arthur.

"Then why do you seem so happy?" said Agil as he smiled. Arthur paused realizing that he was smiling the whole time as well and laughed to himself at his hypocrisy.

"Not as mature as you thought you were, eh?" said Klein as he playfully punched Arthur's armor. The knight, the samurai, and the shield bearer laughed together as their bond strengthened. ' _I guess it's true. You really do meet your friends on the battlefield._ '

"What Arthur said is right. We shouldn't celebrate so much after just clearing the First Floor," said Robin calmly as he sheathed his bow.

"You're quite the killjoy, aren't you?" commented Merlin coldly.

"I don't see you jumping up and down like the rest of them."

"I'm not one that gets excited much for anything."

"Then aren't you also a killjoy?"

"I guess I am."

Kirito and Asuna both sat down to rest as the adrenaline wore off. Asuna began to heal herself up a little and looked over at Kirito who was still suffering from the broken ribs. "You don't have any healing potions left?"

Kirito shook his head. "Nope."

Asuna chuckled confidently and decided to tease a little. "Hehe, weren't you bragging about how you weren't going to use any potions for this boss fight?"

"I didn't."

"Oh please! Then what? Those potions magically vanished?"

"I never had any, I gave mine to the ones who were wounded during the kobold ambush in the dungeon."

Asuna looked at him, absolutely astounded. Kirito noticing her stare quickly said, "I'm not trying to brag I swear!" He paused but the stare didn't go away. "Are you mad because I put myself in danger again?"

"You're such an idiot," said Asuna without answering as she poked at his wound causing him to yelp in pain. But the pain soon began to subside a little as Asuna shared the healing between the two of them, one hand on his torso and one hand for herself. Since her healing skill wasn't very high, the shared healing took away from the effectiveness and the pain from her broken bones came back.

"You concentrate on healing yourself first," said Kirito quietly as he noticed the drop in the effectiveness of the healing.

"Shut up or I'm not going to heal you anymore," said Asuna stubbornly.

"Okay," said Kirito as he smiled and blushed a little. ' _Maybe…this whole thing won't be as bad as I thought it would be…_ '

"So…will you start eating with us again?" asked Kirito as he decided to try and push his luck a little.

Asuna thought about it a little. "I don't know, gotta consult with my boyfriend first. Wouldn't want him getting too jealous, right?" She smiled and gave him a look which he could only describe as sly.

' _Never mind, this girl is too much for me…_ '

The group was extremely impatient, they wanted to find out what the second floor had in store for them as soon as possible. However, Kirito insisted that all them be at least in the yellow zone in case there were monsters just outside. Unlikely but, after beating the odds and not losing a single person in the boss fight, he wanted to be perfectly safe. "Alright, we're good," signaled the healers as the last adventurer got healed up. Kirito nodded and signaled everyone to group up again.

"This is only the first level. We haven't beaten Kayaba yet and we haven't reunited with our friends and family yet." He looked around as everyone calmed down and got more serious. "But we're one step closer. Today you all fought hard and fought bravely and we won. You didn't only do it for yourselves but you also did it for the players who can't fight for themselves; the blacksmiths who sharpen your sword and the alchemists who brew your potions, you did it for them and their families as well. You are the frontline team of Sword Art Online, take pride in that!" His motivational speech was received well as the raid group cheer and applauded him. ' _I'm slowly getting the hang of this,_ ' thought Kirito as he breathed out a sigh of relief, he was never good with those cheesy lines but it was something the players looked to him for. Robin interrupted his thoughts as he walked up and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Robin…what's up?"

"I wanted to give you this." The ranger pulled up his inventory and got the item he was looking for. It was a simple leather black coat with minimal thin white lines design at the edges.

 _[Coat of Midnight]_

 _Boost player's [Hiding] skill._

 _Type: Light Armor_

 _Armor: 57_

 _Value: 6513 Cor_

"What? No, you got the last hit, you should keep it. Not to mention this item fits your character perfectly. It's light armor and it even improves [Hiding]."

"Commander I have a confession," said Robin with a serious tone. "I've held a player that was on the raid team back against her will. Instead of trying to advance, I actually tried to hold back the entire player base from advancing. So as a consequence I think you should take the item drop."

"Why would you do that?"

"Do you have a sibling First?"

Kirito knew what he was going to say next and sighed. "I get it, I get it. I won't hold it against you, but are you sure you want to just give this to me? There are so many players that did so much this raid."

"You managed to lead all of us here, defeated a dangerous player twice, and managed to clear the first boss with no casualties. Ever since you became the commander, good things have been happening. I don't think anybody here will complain if you took the last hit item."

Kirito looked around and the rest of the adventurers nodded in agreement to Robin. "Alright…but you better not be expecting me to give it back," joked Kirito.

"Don't worry," said Robin as he turned away, "black isn't my color."

* * *

It was finally time to open the gate to the second floor and all the players gathered in front of the giant door anxiously. Being the commander, Kirito had the honor of opening it. He took a deep breath and braced himself for the next challenge. He pushed open the door and blinding white light poured through. When everybody opened their eyes again they were in the middle of the ancient Greek city, Athens. To ask everyone to proceed calmly would have been impossible, so Kirito decided to dismiss the party and let everyone wander around. Even the most hardworking players couldn't resist exploring the extraordinary city. The architecture, the people, the atmosphere, everything was done to perfection.

"How about we explore the city together for old times' sake?" suggested Kirito. Just as Klein and Agil were about to agree, another proposition came up.

"Yo who wants to go get a drink?!" yelled Jax; many players roared in agreement and followed him as he laughed loudly. Irelia shook her head but simply followed to make sure her partner wasn't going to get into trouble first thing on the second floor. Klein and Agil gave an 'I'm sorry' look to Kirito and joined the gang as well.

Kirito sighed. "I guess it's just the three of us again."

"What do you mean?" asked Merlin just as a bunch of mages came up to her.

"Professor Merlin, would you like to come with us to shop for spells?"

"Sure." Merlin looked back at Kirito and Asuna. "So yeah, I guess I'm going with them. Bye."

In the blink of an eye, it was just them two alone once more. "P-Professor?"

"That's what the other mages have been calling her."

"What?! How come they don't call me something cool like that?!"

"They call you commander, don't they?"

"But commander sounds like someone who's old and in his late twenties…"

"What are you talking about…?"

"You don't understand, Asuna." Kirito shook his head disappointingly which made her laugh.

' _He acts so childishly when no one's around._ '

"So…what do you want to do first?"

"Aren't you the expert beta tester here?"

"Let's just say Floor 2 went through a 'few' changes compared to the one in the beta."

' _And by a few I mean literally nothing is the same._ '

"Hmm, then how about we start with some shopping?"

"Great idea! There must be a lot of awesome Greek weapons and armors around here!" Asuna simply smiled deviously at Kirito's excitement which worried him. "What? Wait…don't tell we're shopping for…" Before he even knew what happened, he was standing in front of a Greek clothe and jewelry store. "We're shopping for clothes?!" Kirito turned to Asuna with a pleading look.

"You need to get your head out of the game for a little and just enjoy the rest of the day off," said Asuna as she ignored Kirito's plead. "Plus you need the rest."

"Please don't even try to act like this is for me," said Kirito as he sighed and followed Asuna in.

"Yeah you're right," responded Asuna as she laughed.

Just as Kirito expected, all the accessory items were all ridiculously priced compared to more practical items. Especially the clothes. So when Asuna suggested he buy something as well, Kirito violently shook his head. "Fine, suit yourself." She finished the transaction with the store owner and the item popped into her inventory. Delighted with her new outfit, she quickly equipped it over her battle gear. It was a pure white peplos with gold embroideries. It was a classic piece of Greek clothing that was made out of light linen material. The dress went down to her ankles and was held up by a pin on one side of her shoulder; leaving her arms and the other shoulder exposed.

"How do I look?" she asked as she spun in a circle to showcase her new outfit. Kirito was left speechless, the dress fitted her almost too perfectly. The only thing he could think of at that moment was how unfair God is, to bless one girl with that much beauty.

"You look…good." That was all he could manage as he turned to look at something else. He heard her walk up behind him and felt something on his head. "What'd you just put on me?"

"Hehe, just a small flowery crown." Kirito reached to take it off but Asuna grabbed his hand and stopped him. "C'mon humor me a bit, it's kinda embarrassing wearing this alone. Please." Those big cute hazel eyes paired with that dress wouldn't be denied of anything. If she had asked him to wear the exact same dress, he might have considered it. The two walked around and went down to the center of the city where the markets were at. It was a highly populated place with dozens of NPCs; it truly felt like a living breathing city. There were blacksmiths, alchemists, and food stalls all around and the duo took their time to visit each one.

"You planning on cooking tonight?" commented Kirito as Asuna picked out some vegetables.

"I make a pretty mean stew," said Asuna as she momentarily turned to look at Kirito. "Hi, could I get these please?"

"Sure thing, dear," said the elderly woman. "That's going to be 10 Cor."

"Here you go," said Asuna as she pulled out a couple of coins from her inventory.

"Thank you very much, and if I may add, you look absolutely beautiful."

Asuna blushed slightly at the compliment and gave a courteous bow out of habit. "Thank you!"

"Your husband is a very lucky man."

There was a brief moment of silence as the statement sunk in before both of them flushed red and burst into explanation mode.

"No, no, no, he's not my husband, we're just friends!"

"We're not married! She's just a friend!"

The elderly woman quickly apologized. "I'm so sorry, I only said it because you two look so good together." If she was trying to make it better, it didn't work. The two teen simply glowed even redder and walked on awkwardly.

Trying to mend the situation, Kirito decided to direct their attention to something else. "Hey let's go check out that crowd over there." The two of them walked closer to see what all the commotion was about and found three soldiers arguing with a boy around their age. The soldiers wore classic hoplite armor and carried their signature spear and shield. While the boy wore a simple Tyrian purple chiton with a xiphos, a short sword, at his waist. The boy was well-built but nowhere near the level of these veteran soldiers who've been training since the day they could walk. His face was fair, his demeanor right and his curly hair well-maintained, clearly the son of a noble.

"I suggest you watch your mouth, boy! Or the next thing you're going to find is my spear through your heart!"

"And I suggest you apologize for your earlier comment before I make fools out of you."

"This one clearly isn't well-versed in arithmetic. He can't tell the difference between 3 and 1," commented another soldier as he chuckled.

"You insult yourself Spartan. I am well-versed in arithmetic and I can tell you that it will take 3 minutes for the guards to show up while I can kill you all in just 1."

"That's enough! I won't stand for this mockery any longer! Say your prayers and draw your weapon, boy!"

The boy scoffed at him, "No need."

A maiden from the spectators screamed as the Spartan lunged at the boy with his spear. He easily sidestepped the attack and tripped the attacking warrior while doing so. "Too slow, Spartan."

While the boy celebrated his small feat, he didn't notice that the other Spartan had snuck up behind him. However, before his spear could pierce the boy it broke right in front of him and he was faced with a swordsman in black who wore a girly flowery crown. "Two against one? The Spartans aren't as honorable as they are rumored to be," said Kirito as he kicked away the broken spear.

The Spartan paid his comment no mind as he drew out his secondary weapon, his xiphos. The third Spartan was about to jump in and help his comrades before he felt a slight prick at the back of his neck. "Nah, ah, ah," said the beauty in white behind him.

The boy gave a nod of thanks to Kirito as he focused his attention back on his opponent. Kirito braced himself; he has lost the element of surprise and fighting a Spartan one on one was not going to be an easy task. The warrior approached slowly, with his aspis, his large shield, protecting him, and he had close to no openings. Before Kirito could think up of a plan, the Spartan took the initiative and attacked first. His xiphos glowed red and it took Kirito by surprise that they were capable of using sword skills. Kirito quickly parried the strike with his own but left himself defenseless to a shield bash that sent him stumbling backwards.

' _I knew it. They are only a Level below me but they are still trained soldiers._ ' The Spartan approached slowly once again and Kirito analyzed him closely. ' _The hoplites' greatest strengths are their spear and shield combination. The long reach and impenetrable defense make their phalanx formation almost unbeatable. I've taken care of half the equation, now I just need to..._ '

Kirito smiled as he finalized his plan in his mind. There was no need to get past the shield, he just needed to get around it. He began running around the Spartan, trying to get a strike on his back. His light armor allowed him to move around a lot faster than the Spartan, forcing his opponent to stop crouching in order to keep up. But by not crouching, the Spartan now had a new opening and Kirito wasted no time going after his legs. He attacked as the Spartan was turning, leaving him no time to block with his shield. The short sword barely managed to block the attack but by then Kirito had already established position behind him and easily slashed away at his calves, leaving the warrior kneeling on the ground.

"Impressive." Kirito turned around and found that the boy had his opponent taken care of for a while now. "As rude as they are, beating a Spartan in combat is no joke. I was worried you were you trouble."

"All under control," said Kirito as he tried to catch his breath from all the running.

"Then allow me to thank you for saving my life earlier due to my own arrogance," said the boy as he extended out his hand. "My name is-"

"Theseus!" The boy quickly turned around at the angry voice. It was an old man in a scholar's robe accompanied by multiple guards. "What in the world did you do this time?"

"U-Uncle Daedalus…you are looking young today…"

"Do not try your sweet talk with me, answer my question!"

"Uncle, these men were mocking us Athenians…They said our men have no courage and no heart! That we dress like women and waste our time thinking about nothing!"

"I don't care what they said! Head back to the Acropolis now!" Theseus shook his head in frustration as he clearly in disagreement with his uncle but followed his orders nonetheless.

"And you two," said Daedalus as he turned his attention to Kirito and Asuna. "You have helped my nephew and I thank you for that. Now name your price."

Kirito thought about it for a moment before he answered, "A map." A map would be invaluable to them for the amount of time they would save from exploring. Not to mention, the more information they have to work with, the better.

"And the location of the Floor Boss here if you know where it is," added Asuna.

At the mention of the Floor Boss, Daedalus' expression darkened for an instant. "I suggest you simply ask for wealth, girl. The knowledge you seek is far more dangerous."

"We're not here to sight see and earn a living."

Daedalus looked at the two and pondered for a bit. "Then come to the Parthenon tomorrow at noon, I will give you the answers you seek then." With that, Daedalus and the guards with him took the Spartans and returned back.

Kirito and Asuna looked at each other. "I guess it's back to work tomorrow."

"I guess so."

 _Quest Started: An Athenian's Pride_

* * *

 **Author's Note: I'm sorry I just had to include such a cliché scene with Kirito and Asuna, I couldn't help myself! If there were any Greek thing (weapon, armor, whatever) that you guys thought weren't explained clearly enough, please let me know. Also, tell me what you guys thought of the new characters and your prediction of the story (I would like to see you guys guess XD)!**

 **Behind the Page**

 **-looks-wise I based Theseus off of Tystane Martell from Game of Thrones**

 **-currently, in terms of power level, only the top ten can take on Spartans (in this chapter, Kirito is Level 21)**

 **-the hoplites were citizen-soldier of Ancient Greek city-states**

 **-the Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains several ancient buildings of great architectural and historic significance (including the Parthenon)**

 **-the phalanx** **was a close-rank, dense grouping of warriors armed with long spears and interlocking shields (copied and pasted straight from wiki XD)**

 **Response to Reviews**

 **TheSoloPlayer: Thank you for coming back and reviewing again! Hope I can continue to make your day with my writing!**

 **Supbroimawesome: Yes sir you are awesome! Hope you continued reading after the first chapter XD**

 **Sp1derAp0calypse: Thank you so much for the review! You really made my day with your review and I hope I can continue to earn your support!**

 **richardshirowu: Ayy**

 **BlackZ3r0: Thank you so much for leaving a review! And no need to apologize, I appreciate it all the more for the time and effort you put in to write that review. I'm very happy you're enjoying the story and the romance. And I'll definitively keep in mind about what you said about the top 10 (btw I love Shokugeki no Soma as well :P).**

 **Anonymois: Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. I hope you are still around because I always appreciate reviewers like you who can make my writing better. I admit that I am a bit impatient when it comes to the pacing of the romance, but the fact that they were thrown together was very intentional. It just seems much more realistic to me that the players would band together rather than going on solo. I also mentioned that the game itself was much harder than the original so Kirito couldn't just go off to the first town by himself. I will definitively try to keep each character's uniqueness as best as I can in the future and I hope you continue to follow my work.**

 **dbzgtfan2004: Thanks for the review, and I hope that what sounded like a good story did turn out to be a good story! XD**


	12. Heroes of the Greek

**Chapter 11 – Heroes of the Greek**

The Parthenon was in one word, majestic. The restoration efforts in the real-world did not do it any justice compared to the one that was standing in front of them. It was a temple dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena and it was a symbol of glory and power. A magnificent testimony to their victory over the invading Persians and of their peak of power. The inside was decorated with multiple stone sculptures, each telling a different story in their history. Instead of art paintings, the temple had beautiful carvings on its walls and columns, the Greek prided themselves in their architectural prowess and took special care of the most minute details.

"Quite amazing, isn't it?" said Daedalus as he greeted Kirito's group of adventurers. "Meraki; to do something with soul, creativity, or love; to put something of yourself into your work. A principle the Greeks live by. But you are not here to learn about Greek culture."

"We would like to know where the Floor Boss is."

"The location is widely known, but getting there is not so simple."

"If you could stop speaking in riddles, that'd be great," commented Jax who instantly got a jab at the side by Irelia.

"The Floor Boss is located in the Labyrinth, a fearsome monster made of half man and half beast. The Minotaur."

"How do we get to the Labyrinth?" asked Kirito eagerly with a goal in sight again.

"You have to fly there."

There was a pause as the group processed that statement. "We're not birds, why do we have to fly there?" said Klein, voicing the confusion of all the players.

"The Labyrinth is across the Icarian Sea on Crete. Nothing floats atop the Icarian Sea so going by boat is not an option. Unless, of course, one of you is a grand mage who knows teleportation spells."

Everyone turned to Merlin. "No."

"Alright so how can we fly there?"

"Well, there are two options, one you can try to tame the Flesh-Eating Pelicans on the waterfront and ride them."

"What the hell are Flesh-Eating Pelicans?"

"GAAAAAGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The giant white bird with an oversized beak struggled violently in its cage as the few Greek men surrounding the cage tried to control it. One of them got too close and the monster wasted no time in grabbing a portion of the man's arm for a quick meal. The man let out a bloodcurdling scream as Daedalus sighed. "This is the third one this week."

"Third?!"

"They are quite aggressive."

"Alright that's not going to work, what's the second option?"

"You fly," said Daedalus as a pair of wings extended behind his back. Half made of feathers and half made of machine parts, it was a creation that was ahead of its time. "A little invention of mine."

"These will get us to Crete?"

"They will. The second part is my nephew Theseus, without his blood, you will be unable to enter the Labyrinth."

"That shouldn't be a problem, he seems like a very capable warrior."

' _This is too easy…what's the catch Kayaba?_ ' thought Kirito.

"Yes, indeed he is. The best one in Athens most likely. Which is why I have a few favors I would like to ask in return."

' _There it is._ '

"First of all, I need you to gather the necessary materials to make the wings for all of you. Our troops are scarce as it is and expending them to collect materials is not possible."

"That's reasonable."

"Secondly, as you have seen, our relationship with the Spartans has not been so good lately and I fear that war is within their sights. However, Athens has long put down her spears and shields, our military forces are nowhere near the strength of Sparta's. I ask of you to go as envoys and try to come to an agreement before the situation gets any worse. If you fulfill these two requests, I will make sure you have your wings to the Labyrinth."

"Then we would like to add a request of our own as well," said Merlin. "We haven't been able to find any spell tomes among the merchant but they pointed us to you. So we would also like you to share any spell tomes you have."

"That can be arranged," said Daedalus as he nodded.

Kirito looked around his adventurers one more time. "We accept then."

"Fantastic. I will of course also provide you all with maps and proper provisions for the journey to Sparta. Please come to Hadrian's Library tomorrow, I will have it ready then."

* * *

"So we're diplomats now?" asked Asuna.

"We don't really have a choice, it's either his wings or…those birds," responded Kirito as he shuddered at the thought of the oversized creatures.

"Any plans on how we're going to convince them not to go to war?" asked Arthur.

"We just have to convince them that they can't win."

"Good luck with that," said Theseus as he walked up behind them. "Spartans aren't scared of anything. If they have their minds made up then the war is no longer a matter of if but of when."

"You're saying we have no chance of persuading them?"

"They are not men of reason but of arms. The only way you make them think they can't win is if you defeat their strongest warrior one on one. And _filos_ , no offense but you don't stand a chance." Theseus moved closer and whispered into Kirito's ear. "My uncle is a fool who still thinks there's a way to avoid this war, but there isn't. Once you are in Sparta, try to destroy their barracks, armory and food supply. This will weaken them significantly and will buy us time to gather allies, build up our strength or perhaps even dissuade them completely. It's the only way Athens can survive."

"That's an act of terrorism…"

"Wars are not won by being peaceful, wars are won by killing the enemy," said Theseus as he handed Kirito a sealed box.

"What's this?"

"Explosion scrolls. Anybody can use them, just unroll the scroll and channel a bit of mana."

"That's not the agreement we had with your uncle, and without him, we don't have the wings we need to go to Crete."

"I am the son of Poseidon," said Theseus as he drew out his blue xiphos and a trident symbol glowed. "I can tame those Flesh-Eating Pelicans if I so wished. And I will go with you to the Labyrinth and slay the Minotaur. You have my word." With that said, Theseus turned and looked down at the beautiful city of Athens. "Please keep it in mind, you would be saving thousands of lives."

"What'd he say?" asked Merlin as Theseus walked back up the stairs to the Acropolis.

"Something very bad…"

* * *

"He asked us to what!?" said Asuna angrily. "You aren't actually thinking of going through with it, are you?!"

"Keep it down," said Kirito as he looked out the window to make sure nobody heard her. "I'm just saying that's an option. I'm not for it but if the only way we can persuade Sparta to stand down is to beat their strongest Spartan then Theseus is right, I won't be able to beat him."

"This still leaves a bad taste in my mouth," said Merlin.

"As long as Daedalus holds the key to Crete, it might be one request after another. If we are unable to get a peace agreement, the next one might be asking us to go to war for him," said Robin, "and that's the last thing we want. After all, if we die here, it's for keeps."

"But should we not at least try to sue for peace? We still haven't considered the possibility of us getting caught while trying to destroy their key buildings. They will undoubtedly be well-defended," said Arthur.

"Then let's keep our options open. We're going to go in with the intent of convincing them but if it doesn't work out, we go with Theseus' plan," said Kirito and the group settled on that decision. "Next, we need to divide up our group into the people who will go to Sparta and the people who will help collect the materials for the wings."

"I'm going to stay here in Athens. If you guys are going to be fighting like gladiators there I won't be of much help, plus I want to get through all the spell tomes Daedalus has," said Merlin.

"Me too, I'm going to familiarize myself with this area so that when the support and craft players come I can help them find what they need," said Agil.

"We're going to need a team that will be negotiating and a team that will carry out the attacks. Robin, Asuna, and Irelia are the fastest among us, so you guys will be the stealth team. Familiarize yourself with how to use these." Kirito handed them the box of scrolls. "Arthur, Jax and I will be negotiating since we excel at one on ones. Let's go visit Theseus in the morning to get any information on who we might be fighting and how we can beat him."

He turned to Klein. "Sorry you're going to have to sit this one out, if we take too many people there as envoys it may seem suspicious. You'll be in charge of collecting the materials."

"It's all good. I should be able to grind a few levels out since I'm just going to be killing monsters," said Klein.

"That's a good idea. On the way to Sparta, we should try our best to level up as much as possible, we'll need definitively need it. I'll send a message to all the players to help out with the material collection. We'll leave for Sparta as soon as we have the supplies necessary."

After the meeting was over, the players sat together and ate dinner as a group. It was the last dinner they were going to have together in a while. "To think if this was actually a game, this scenario would be pretty fun," said Jax as he laughed. "Say, if it does come down to a one on one. Which one of us is going to fight?"

"Jax…" said Irelia, worried that her partner might say something stupid.

"I'm not doubting our commander here, he's a great leader. But if you are talking about dueling potential then it has to be either me or Arthur."

"Whoever the champion of Sparta is, he's all yours," said Kirito as he chuckled. "Fighting Spartans is way too much work."

Jax turned to Arthur next. "Be my guest," said Arthur.

"Yes!" said Jax as he celebrated.

"Take care of him, he tends to be quite reckless," said Irelia.

"Excuse me, lady, I can take care of myself just fine." Irelia shook her head and knocked down her friend's hat.

"Why always the hat…" muttered Jax as he adjusted it while the rest of the table shared a laugh.

The day came to a close as the sun set and the moon rose. The dark veil of the night once again cloaked the world and rendered a peaceful silence. It was the only time Kirito could escape his responsibilities and enjoy some alone time. However, tonight wasn't a night for escapism. "Hey," said Asuna as she sat down beside him.

"Hey," said Kirito. "I'm sorry I had to put you in a difficult situation. I know you're against Theseus' plan."

"It's okay, I'll do what I have to for the best interest of all the players," Asuna looked over, "just like you."

"Am I really? Who's to say Arthur wouldn't have made a better leader?"

Asuna gave him an angry look. "Is this leading to another one of your stupid boyfriend jokes?"

"What? Oh no, no. I swear," said Kirito as he put up his hands defensively. "I'm just saying, what if I made the wrong decision? What if you, Irelia and Robin get caught?"

Asuna sighed. "Then just make sure the negotiations go well."

"You make it sound so easy." Kirito laughed a little and stopped suddenly. "Hey, wait! Weren't you the one that first voted me to be the commander?"

"It turned out pretty well, didn't it?"

"Take the job back please," said Kirito jokingly.

"Too late, com-man-der!" said Asuna, emphasizing the 'commander' part as the two shared a heartwarming laugh.

Looking out from inside the inn, "The ship is setting sail," said Merlin.

"What ship?" asked Jax.

"Never mind, you battle buffoon," said Merlin as she walked away, leaving a confused Jax behind.

"Wait, what?" Jax turned to Irelia. "Hey, Irelia! What does 'The ship is setting sail' mean?"

* * *

Morning came and the players went back to the Acropolis to get ready for the trip. "Here are the maps you need," said Daedalus as he handed them each a copy and as expected, it was a map of ancient Greece.

"Guess this Floor really was as big as expected…still, ten times the size of the First Floor, quite a jump."

"The journey will take too long by foot, so I have prepared horses for your journey. Along with some supplies and refreshments. Finally, some offerings to the Spartans and their gods. Greeks do take their religions quite seriously so be mindful of the customs."

"Thank you, we will try our best to get peace for Athens."

"Not try, it's do or do not. There is no try." Kirito could only nod in response.

As they exited, Theseus waited for them outside. "So did you think about what I said?"

"I did," said Kirito, "and we plan to sue for peace first. If we see that there are no other way and that a war is imminent, then we will go with your plan."

"Okay, that's all I ask. Thank you for doing this."

"There's one more thing I want to know."

"Ask away."

"The champion of Sparta, do you have an idea of who it might be or how we might beat him?"

"It could be a number of people; Ajax the Greater, Ajax the Lesser, Diomedes, Turnus, Patroclus. They are all great warriors." Theseus paused. "There is one last person, he is stronger than all of them and like me, he is one of Greek's heroes. But he has attitude issues, so you most likely won't even find him in Sparta."

"Why doesn't your uncle send you as the envoy?"

"It has been my presence that has kept the Spartans from starting a war. However, if I were to fight the hero of Sparta, no matter who the winner is, war is sure to ensue."

"Then how about you give us a go at you then?" suggested Jax. "If we are able to beat you then we'll stand a strong chance against whoever this hero is and will for sure beat all the other contenders, right?"

Theseus smiled. "Sure, if you think you are a match. I'm never one to back down from a challenge. Follow me."

Theseus led them to their training ground and grabbed a sparring spear off the weapon rack. "It's no Colosseum but it'll do." He looked back at Jax, who was as confident as ever. "I admire your courage to challenge me but there really is no shame in backing out."

Instead of answering, Jax took our his [Sentinel's Halberd] and leaped at Theseus. Using the height advantage, he brought his halberd down hard with gravity and his weight adding to the force of the strike. However, Theseus was quick and easily avoided the attack.

"I didn't even say read, set, go yet," said Theseus as he smiled at his opponent's eagerness.

"If you got taken out by that, then you wouldn't be much of a hero then," answered Jax as he continued his attacks. But the difference in skills became apparent as Theseus blocked, redirected or sidestepped each attack without breaking a sweat.

"Ready to give up?"

"Never." Jax relentlessly continued. He swung at Theseus with all his strength and with the momentum of the miss he jumped and brought the weapon back around for a fast second strike.

"Not enough!" said Theseus as ducked and avoided the swing. Jax's back was now exposed and Theseus went in to end the fight. But out of nowhere, Jax pulled out his dadao with a reverse grip and slashed at Theseus, just barely missing.

"That was close!" said Theseus as he backed away with new found respect for Jax. "First time I've ever seen a move like that."

"You're making me blush."

Theseus cracked his neck and smiled. "Alright, my turn." His sparring spear lit up blue and he lunged at Jax. His speed didn't give Jax much time to react and his fast jabs connected with Jax's body three times before he could even put his guard up. Theseus spun behind him and struck his leg next, bringing him to the ground. Finally, his spear rested at Jax's neck and Jax tapped out.

"I just killed you about four times there, friend," said Theseus as he smiled and helped him back up. "But I didn't see you use any skills, why is that?"

"What do you mean?"

"You saw how my spear lit up when I attacked you? That was a weapon skill and they are much more effective than regular jabs."

"What I just did wasn't from the weapon skill menu, I came up with it on my own."

"If you can do it, then it is a skill." Theseus' statement confused all of them and he simply decided that a show would be better than a tell. "Do you know how to empower your attacks?"

"Yeah, that's the basic one that everyone automatically has learned."

"Good, now try to perform the action you just did with your attack empowered."

Jax empowered his attack as his halberd glowed yellow then he performed the first move he did which was the leaping strike. The jump was much faster, and the force of the impact was also much greater.

 _[Leap Strike] skill learned!_

"Wait but [Leap Strike] wasn't in the skill menu…" Then the revelation came. "Wait! Are you saying we can create our own skills in this game?!" Theseus didn't quite understand what they were saying but simply decided to agree with them since they seemed to understand now.

"Thank you, this information is invaluable to us," said Kirito.

"No problem, happy to help. I truly hope your group will be successful in negotiating with them, believe me when I say that I have no ill will towards the Spartans. I just want to protect my home."

"We don't doubt that Theseus." They shook hands and after saying their goodbyes, the envoy group left for Sparta.

* * *

 **Author's Note: I hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter! Tell me what you thought of it; the fight scenes, the plot, the characters, anything. I'm really curious as to how you guys are liking the Greek arc and depending on how well it's being received, it might be a little shorter or little longer. Also, it's ironic how you guys praised me for my historical accuracy but this arc will be full of historical inaccuracies XD But I think it'll be quite interesting, especially seeing different heroes of Greek come together in the same timeline :O Finally, take a guess as to who the hero of Sparta is!**

 **Behind the Page**

 **-filos = friend (thank you Google Translate)**

 **-Hadrian's Library was built in AD 132 but screw it, in the world of SAO it's in Ancient Athens**

 **-we are not sure who Theseus' father is (might have been Poseidon or King Aegeus of Athens) but I'm just gonna say he's the son of Poseidon XD**

 **-throwing in that Master Yoda Easter egg :D**

 **-the rationale behind Theseus saying, "no matter who the winner is, war is sure to ensue," is that if Theseus were to lose, the Spartans would for sure attack, however, if Theseus were to win, other countries would immediately ally with Athens and declare war on Sparta (I don't know if that makes sense to you guys, but I feel like that's a pretty logical explanation XD)**

 **Response to Reviews**

 **Alkito: Thank you for the review! I'm happy a lot of people are appreciating the effort that goes into the amount of research I do.**

 **Ethan Kironus: ;)**

 **TheSoloPlayer: Thanks for the review and the encouragement, hope you stick with this story till the end.**

 **Sp1derAp0calypse: Thank you so much for the encouraging review, I hope I continue to earn your support!**


	13. Aptitudes of a Mage

**Chapter 12 – Aptitudes of a Mage**

"You know…I'm okay with you guys calling me Merlin…"

"We can't! Plus you're our teacher and you're the best out of all of us, this much respect is the least you deserve!" said one of the mages following her.

"It's only because I'm a couple of levels ahead of you guys, it really isn't all that special."

"I disagree," said one of them who had been quiet the entire time. "Just like how the Sword Arts have skill in play, so does magic. I believe there's a reason you are the strongest among us." He paused for a moment to think about the wording of his next sentence. "Perhaps…you are more attuned to magic itself."

The statement made her feel slightly better about all the praise she was receiving. "Not sure if I should call you an analytic or a poet, Mukuro."

The tall and slender teen with blue hair simply smiled at the comment. "Why not both?" A small smile grew as she shook her head. His witty and unexpected comments were truly entertaining to her. The group of mages arrived early at Hadrian's Library to get a start on the spell tomes Daedalus had promised them. The library had an ancient and pristine aura that was a symbolism of wisdom for the Athenians, which captured one mage in particular. "This is the propylaea, a monumental gateway, the only entrance to the library. How magnificent! Look at the Corinth order architecture, the perfection of those fluted columns and the detail of the leaves and scrolls carving!"

Despite his excitement, the others didn't seem to share the same appreciation for Greek architecture as Mukuro as they ignored his lecture and ran ahead. "Why are we standing outside the library looking at the columns and gateway? Let's go inside!"

"You coming?" asked Merlin.

"No, I'm going to stay out here for a little longer." It was clear to her how absorbed he was in this so she simply smiled and allowed him to do what he wanted.

"Tell me more about all this later."

"Anytime."

Merlin joined up with the rest of the mages and was absolutely stunned by the inside. Rows upon rows, floors upon floors filled with books, all kept in an immaculate state. ' _Maybe it was for the best that he stayed outside. He'll never leave this place if he sees this._ '

"Ah you're here," said Daedalus as he came down some stairs from his study. The old man showed an excitement that Merlin hadn't seen while they were negotiating the terms for the wings they needed to go to Crete. Perhaps, it was due to the fact that magic, in particular, was under a lot of scrutinies in a society of warriors and honor. Seeing a group of young men and women willingly learning magic seems to have brightened his day.

"Thank you for aiding us, we weren't getting anywhere with the merchants," said Merlin.

"And you wouldn't have made any progress even if you traveled all across Greece. The Greek believe that summoning fire or lightning should be left to the gods, and that magic should not be in the hands of men." Daedalus paused and looked Merlin straight in the eye. "We are the most dangerous creature in this world after all."

"Those Flesh-Eating Pelicans looked pretty dangerous."

Her comment earned a small laughter from the old man. "Yes you're right, but whether it be hydras, dragons or Flesh-Eating Pelicans. They all follow what nature tells them to do; they live and they die. We are not the most dangerous because we are strong but because we can think. What we do with our thoughts can lead to the rise of great civilizations, unparalleled advancements in science and mathematics, and…an endless horizon of corpses." The atmosphere in the room darkened. "So young magus, what do you intend to do with this knowledge? Know that I will not foster warlocks who plan to leave behind nothing but destruction in this world."

"We want to protect ourselves and go back to the world we came from. To see our parents, siblings, and friends again. That's it."

The old man smiled once more. "A noble goal, and a complicated one it seems."

"Simpler than you might think."

' _Just have to clear 100 Floors without dying once…_ '

Daedalus chuckled again and waved his hand, as soon as he did that, dozens of books popped out of the bookcases from across the library and levitated to where they were. "These are all the spell tomes I have. I can't sell them to you nor can you leave with them but you are free to use them as long as you are in the library."

"Thank you very much," said the mages in unison.

"It's my pleasure, and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask," said Daedalus.

The mages went to work right away and began studying the spell tomes. The spells were inscribed into the tomes and as they read them the knowledge flowed into them. However, just because a mage has the knowledge of a spell doesn't mean the mage can cast it. It was a process. To be able to cast a spell, the mage had to understand it. "These are so much harder to comprehend than the [Fireball] spell we learned," commented one of the mages. "That one only took a couple minutes and I barely understand the first line for this one…"

"The stronger the spell, the more complicated it will be to learn it. Some mages spend years trying to learn master level spells."

"Years?!"

"Don't worry, these ones aren't at that level yet. Give it a week or two, and if you get stuck, try doing something other than reading. It can help you see the information in another way. Dig deep and get the most out of these words that the ancient mages left us with. It's also worth mentioning that the higher your WIS (wisdom) stat is, the faster you will be able to learn new spells."

"Is that the only difference between the INT (intelligence) and WIS stat?"

"Well INT and WIS are the two main stats for mages. The INT stat is what makes your spells more powerful and it's what increases your mana pool. The WIS stat increases the rate at which your mana regenerates and your mastery of spells."

"Which is worth investing more in?"

"That's for you to decide."

' _Vague as always,_ ' thought Merlin as she turned her attention back to the spell tome; its pages were wrinkled with old age but was kept in a good condition. The front cover was made of magma red leather and it was titled [The Cold Pyromancer].

 _[It was biting cold, and the falling snow,_

 _Which filled a poor little match girl's heart with woe,_

 _Who was bareheaded and barefooted, as she went along the street,_

 _Crying, "Who'll buy my matches? For I want pennies to buy meat!"]_

' _I've read this story before…Did Kayaba run out of ideas that he had to plagiarize children books?_ '

 _[So the little girl went on, while the snow fell thick and fast;_

 _And the child's_ _ **rteha**_ _felt cold and downcast,_

 _For nobody had bought any matches that day,_

 _Which filled her little mind with grief and dismay.]_

' _And the child's what?_ ' thought Merlin as she rubbed her eyes trying to see if anything was clouding her vision but nothing worked. The word on the spell tome remained incomprehensible.

 _[As the night wore on her hands were numb with cold,_

 _And no longer her strength could her uphold,_

 _When an idea into her little head came:_

 _She'd strike a match and warm her hands at the flame._

 _And so she lighted the match, and watched it burn brightly,_

 _But the tiny flames brought no_ _ **twmarh**_ _and faded away silently,_

 _ **Oeph**_ _was lost when another idea into her little head came:_

 _She'd strike another match_ _ **dna wgor**_ _ **ahtt**_ _ **lfeam**_ _._

 _Oh so big was the old wooden house, and oh so big was the wooden door,_

 _From sanctuary to funeral pyre, the family inside breathed no more,_

 _Ashes filled their healthy lungs, and their smooth skin turned black as tar,_

 _Yet beside the big grand stove, the little girl was still cold so far._

 _With still no matches sold,_

 _The little girl could only beat the cold,_

 _Sealing the fate of another house,_

 _Making a widow of a spouse._

 _No relief still from the winter,_

 _She turned the whole town into timber,_

 _Washed away in the sea of fires,_

 _Her story rewritten by a pack of liars._

 _Within the clutches of the chill,_

 _She stepped into the fire with her own will,_

 _Alas she learned the ultimate truth:_

 _ **Rhe**_ _ **rteha**_ _ **swa**_ _ **znroef**_ _ **mrfo**_ _ **ckal fo**_ _ **hrtu**_ _.]_

Suddenly visions of a town engulfed in a fiery blaze and screams of the burning victims overtook Merlin. The shock of the vision made her drop the spell tome, and as soon as it left her hands, the visions faded away. She struggled to regain her now ragged breath and tried to steady her rapid heartbeat. "Professor, what's wrong?!" asked one of the other mages as they quickly gathered to help her back up.

"I don't know, I was just reading the spell tome and I began seeing things…" explained Merlin as she tried to regain her composure. Her mind then went back to the story of the little match girl and she reached for the spell tome again.

"I think that's enough for one day," said Daedalus as he stopped her.

"I'm fine," said Merlin, "the whole point of reading these spell tome is to learn the spells and I'm almost there."

"The more eager you are to solve the question, the less clear the answer will be to you. Many mages have been driven insane trying to decipher messages that they were not ready for."

"I said I'm okay." She pushed off the hands that were supporting her and reached for the spell tome again.

"Merlin, you have made more progress today than many of the brightest scholars ever have. But your mental capacity has a limit to how fast it can absorb this knowledge. Overstrain that capacity and you will lose much more than you would ever hope to gain from this spell tome." Merlin gritted her teeth but there was nothing she could do but accept Daedalus' suggestions and call it a day. She walked out of the library frustratingly and on the way out bumped into Mukuro.

"Merlin? You okay?"

"No," responded Merlin as she kept walking.

"What's wrong?" He asked as he kept following her.

"You sure you don't want to check out the library? You'll like it even more than the columns outside."

"I rather find out what's bothering you." Merlin sighed and finally waved Mukuro to follow her. She could use the company despite her bad mood.

* * *

"So that's that," said Merlin as she finished recounting what happened and blasted another snake with a fireball. The poor reptile followed its fellow monster brethren, who were the previous target of Merlin's wrath, and reduced to a pile of ash. "It's so stupid, I was so close too."

Mukuro raised his eyebrow as Merlin moved onto the next batch of snakes. "Is this how you usually release your anger?"

Merlin turned with a scowl on her face. "You don't interact with girls much, do you?" To which Mukuro simply shrugged.

"Hmm, if it's based on the children's book then perhaps it shares the same message as the children's book."

"Care to elaborate?"

"In the original book, the little girl lights four matches, each giving her a different hallucination. The first match shows her a grand stove that keeps her warm. The second shows her a chicken that walked up to her with a fork and a knife in its breast. The third shows her a big Christmas tree. The last reunites her with her dead grandmother and she goes to a place without hunger or cold." He continued, "In my opinion, there were two main morals behind the story; the first one focusing on the tragedy of the little match girl's death. If a passerby would have shown any compassion or charitability by buying a match, the little match girl would have returned home with no threat of getting beat by her father. The second focusing on the little match girl's attitude, even in such a bleak circumstance she continues to struggle for survival and dreams of a better future."

"Greek architecture and children's fairytales. You have strange tastes."

Mukuro smiled at the jest. "What can I say? I like to read."

"But in the Cold Pyromancer, after striking the first match the little girl didn't see a hallucination. These morals also don't explain the visions I saw…"

"Perhaps just like in The Little Match Girl, you will find two main lessons from the Cold Pyromancer. It isn't a coincidence that Kayaba wrote that book that way, you should try and compare the two stories. It'll help you focus on the important points of the story and maybe that's when you'll learn the spell."

Merlin nodded at the suggestion. "I guess all we can do now is wait and test out that theory tomorrow."

"Indeed."

"Sorry, I had you waste all your time solving my problem."

"It's my pleasure, consider a repayment to all the things you have done for all of us mages."

"I'm just lucky really…" Merlin stopped herself there. There are responsibilities that she has to bear as the strongest mage, just like Kirito, she's expected to be a role model for the other players. But Kirito has had Asuna to go to when the weight on his shoulders gets too heavy, meanwhile she has no one.

"Hmm?"

Merlin stayed silent and contemplated for a moment, she was never one to be able to express her emotions very well. In fact, this was one of the few times she has ever gotten help from someone. At that moment another question popped into her mind, ' _Why was it so easy to go to him for help?_ '

She turned and looked at him. ' _Is it his wise yet sometimes naïve comments? Is it his changing phases between silence and rambling? Or maybe it's…_ '

"Is there something on my face?" asked Mukuro as he felt around his cheeks and mouth area to check.

Merlin laughed a little at the last thought she had. "No, I just…have some stuff on my mind."

"More on the spell tome?"

"No, not about that. It's about…You know what, it's kind of late, I'll tell you later."

"We have time," said Mukuro as he caught Merlin's hand. She felt a weird feeling at that moment. A boy and a girl holding hands under a starlit night. That wasn't a screenplay she ever pictured herself to be in. She was always the one looking in from the outside, and to a degree, it always has intrigued her but never has she obsessed over it like many of her female peers.

' _Maybe because he's handsome._ ' It was an observation. No butterflies or blushing or heart racing. She never understood love, and therefore wasn't sure whether or not she was falling in love right then. But what she did understand was that she trusted him enough to get his opinion on the things that she has kept bottled up.

"I think the praises I get from everyone is misplaced. I mean I'm just lucky that I met one of the best players in the game on the very first day. Kirito showed us where to go, what to expect, how to level up efficiently. I'm ahead of everybody else for that reason alone. I don't get why everyone keeps acting like it's such a big deal," said Merlin finally. It came out suddenly and she was surprised by the amount of stress that was released. What had once been just a slight annoyance became a growing sense of insecurity.

Mukuro didn't take very long to answer. "It's probably because we feel the same as you do, we feel lucky too. You were the one to show us where to get the spell tome to learn our first spell, how to properly cast it, and what to do when battling as a mage."

"I can't do that forever."

"You are the only one we have. Magic wasn't in the beta, and Kirito won't have the answers anymore."

"Maybe I don't either."

"Then when that time comes, you can pass your position onto someone else. You have already done more than enough…Professor."

Merlin smiled at that last cheeky bit. "Don't call me that."

The two of them walked back to the inn together and they each went back to their own rooms. Something Merlin was thankful for, she wouldn't have known what to do if there was a kissing part in the script. She turned off the lights and got into bed, her mind back at peace and focused on tomorrow. ' _What are you trying to tell me little match girl?_ '

It didn't take her long to fall asleep, and when she opened her eyes again she was on a snowy road in what seemed to be old London, England. Pedestrians wore big furry coats as they hurried home to escape the chilling cold.

' _I'm dreaming._ ' Merlin was perfectly aware of it, she didn't feel the cold whatsoever and the people didn't seem to be able to see her as one of the carriages almost ran her over. At the corner of her eye, she sees a little girl curled up between two houses. ' _The little match girl._ '

She approached her, "I would like to buy your matches."

The little girl looked at her and smiled. "They aren't for sale, madam."

"Don't you need the money to go home?"

"Go home?" The little girl stared ahead with an empty look in her eyes. "It's cold back home."

"It must be better than out here."

"You are very kind, dear madam. Kinder than all the other people here. You should leave soon."

"Why?"

The little girl lit up a match and dropped it next to the house she was hiding next to. The little flame hit the snow but didn't extinguish. "Because it's cold here." The flame from the match grew and engulfed the entire house in an instant.

"What are you doing?!" The screams of the tenants inside soon were heard and Merlin rushed to the door to try and rescue them. However, no matter how hard she pulled on the door it would not open.

"They lock it so tightly to prevent others from going in, now they can't get out," said the little girl as she lit another match.

"STOP!" yelled Merlin as she woke up in a cold sweat. She shook off the bad dream and splashed some water on her face. That wasn't going to stop her from learning the spell.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want to give it a bit more time," asked Daedalus as he tried to convince Merlin not to read the spell tome.

"I'm fine Daedalus," said Merlin as she sat down and made herself comfortable. "I have no intentions of going crazy just yet."

She reread the story from start to finish and the same parts remained incomprehensible to her. When Merlin reached the end of the story, she was greeted with another vision. But this time she was once again back where she was in her dream, on that icy road in London. She approached the little match girl once again.

"I would like to buy your matches."

"They aren't for sale, madam."

' _The loop is starting again…_ '

The little girl smiled at her. "You are very kind, dear madam. Kinder than all the other people here. You should leave soon."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because it's cold," said the little girl as she turned and looked at her. But the face that was staring back at Merlin was now her own and when she looked into the wooden house, the people sitting at the table were her friends: Kirito, Asuna, Mukuro and all the other players.

"Please, don't," said Merlin as her voice quivered slightly.

"But I'm cold," responded the little girl emotionlessly as she dropped the match. But the little flame was immediately snuffed as Merlin stepped on it.

"You should leave, madam," said the little girl as she lighted another match.

"No," said Merlin as she ignited a fireball in her hand.

"Very well." The girl lit up two more matches and combined them together to create a giant ball of flame. "Then you will burn with the rest of them."

* * *

"What's happening to her?" asked Mukuro as a magic circle of fire appeared under Merlin, who was still trapped in the vision and unable to move.

"This is what I feared…" said Daedalus. "The ancient mage that wrote this spell tome deemed her unworthy and is now sentencing her to die. Quickly, move her out of that circle!"

Just as the mages moved Merlin out of the magic circle, a pillar of flame came out of the magic circle, incinerating everything that was over it.

"Is there a way to stop this?!" asked Mukuro as he tried to take the spell tome away from Merlin, who had an iron grip on it.

"The only way for Merlin to survive now is to pass the test that the ancient mage has put in front of her." Just as he said this, Merlin's body got up on its own and began walking towards the pillar of flame. The other mages tried to hold her back but they could not stop her.

"Stand back!" yelled Daedalus. "[Chains of Heaven]!" Several magic circles appeared in the air, summoning golden chains that bound Merlin and stopped her from moving. "This is but a temporary fix, now it is up to Merlin to win the battle on her side."

* * *

"[Fireball]" The fireball flew towards the little girl but stopped right in its track when she put up her hand.

"[Enkai]" The fireball then flew back towards its caster, the explosion catching the tail end of Merlin's cloak. The little girl gave her no time to catch her breath as she ignited two more matches and tossed them at her.

"[Pillar of Flame]" The matches each created a fire magic circle, summoning two columns of fire from the ground. Being unable to dodge both them completely, the pillar of fire skinned Merlin's arm slightly, giving her a flash of excruciating pain and numbness. The little amount skin that was left behind was completely charred, revealing her burned tissue.

' _I can't beat her, no way. I need to find a way to make her warm,_ ' thought Merlin as she tried her best to ignore the searing pain. A bead of sweat dripped from her chin as she looked around seeing the town already half burned down due to their fighting. ' _How is it possible that she's still cold?_ '

That's when it finally hit her, the lesson that the little girl learned in her final moment in flames. "This is it," said the little girl as she lit up the last match she had and held it in front of her. "[Great Fire Annihilation]"

Merlin decided to gamble on that opportunity, if she was wrong she would undoubtedly die from taking the spell at point blank range. She ran up and caught the little girl in a hug which caught her by surprise. "The fire isn't going to make you feel any warmer."

The little girl stopped and had a confused look. "What do you mean? Fire is supposed to make you feel warmer…"

"What you are looking for isn't physical warmth," said Merlin as she kneeled down in front of the little girl. She took off her cloak and wrapped it around her. "You are looking for the emotional warmth that will melt the ice in your heart." A tear rolled out of the little girl's eye as the cloudy emptiness in her eyes began to clear. "I'm sorry for everything that has happened."

Back in the library, the chains that were holding her back were being melted off by the unconscious Merlin. "I can't hold her for much longer!"

The chains finally broke and the only person standing between Merlin and pillar of flame now was Mukuro. "Merlin." The unconscious girl didn't respond but simply kept walking forward. He tried to push her back but to no avail.

"Mukuro get out of there!" yelled one of the other mages. He refused to listen and was inched closer and closer to the pillar of flame himself. His back was the first part of him that made contact. "AHHHHHHHH!" The brutal torture of the fire was almost enough to make him faint, but he continued to push back, trying to save as many milliseconds as he can for Merlin. "Hurry Merlin!"

"Thank you," whispered the little girl as she began to fully cry. "I'm not cold anymore."

A tear rolled off of Merlin's cheeks as she regained consciousness. The fire pillar disappeared at the same time and Mukuro finally fell to the ground. "Mukuro?!" asked a panicked Merlin as she tried to prevent the fall, only to feel the burning flesh on his back. "What happened?!"

"He tried to stop you from walking into the pillar of flame that had spawned."

"No, no, no, no," said Merlin as she pulled out a health potion as a fast as she could, ignoring her own self-inflicted burns. "Get a healer!"

"Merlin…he's already de-" Before Daedalus could finish his sentence a cough interrupted him midway.

"Took…you…long enough."

Merlin laughed and cried a little out of joy. The other mages breathed out a sigh of relief and Daedalus was speechless at the sight of his miraculous survival. "Don't you dare scare us like that again."

* * *

"So how did you figure it out?" asked Mukuro as he rested on a bed in the infirmary.

"All the pieces were there, plus since it was based on a children's book, I assumed the answer must have been something cheesy. Just like how the people closed off their hearts to her, she closed off hers to them."

"Did you manage to learn the spell then?"

"Not really, the spell tome never said taught me spells," said Merlin as she took out the spell tome. But to her surprise, the book now had a completely different cover and was in a brand new condition. "[Enkai - The Fire Commandments]…" The two of them exchanged a look. "Let's save this for tomorrow."

"Yeah, good idea."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm not an expert at writing poems so if anyone is a poem expert and I made their eyes bleed, I apologize :P A theme that I'm focusing on is really the pressure of all the responsibilities that has fallen on the shoulders of these young leaders like Kirito and Merlin. These are all real human lives that have been entrusted into their hands and they are only high schoolers. I put in a lot of work for this one and I would appreciate a lot if you left a review telling me how I did.**

 **Behind the Page**

 **-the first half of the Cold Pyromancer is from the poem "The Little Match Girl" from poetry foundation (up until the last four lines)**

 **-Mukuro's looks are based on Katekyo Hitman Reborn's Mukuro Rokudo**

 **-if you guys are up for it, as a mini game, try to figure out what those scrambled letters make out (good luck XD)**

 **Response to Reviews (this is literally one of my favorite part of being an author so review more! XD)**

 **TheSoloPlayer: Thanks for reviewing again, good luck on your exams I'm sure you'll crush them!**

 **BlackZ3r0: Thanks for the review and suggestion! I don't read Overlord but I did look into what you were talking about and I think that's actually a great idea. I'm currently in the process of making it so you might see those character charts in the next few chapters. Also good guess, I wonder if you are right XD**


	14. Road to Sparta

**Chapter 13 – Road to Sparta**

 _November 11, 2022 - Floor 2_

"When he said we were getting horses, I was not expecting this," sulked Jax as he sat inside the carriage with the others.

"It's because of all this stuff he wants to bring there," said Irelia, who was coaching the carriage with Asuna beside her. "Our inventories aren't big enough to carry it all."

Jax sighed, "Why are we even bothering to bring all this. Didn't Theseus say that the Spartans would only listen to violence?"

"You seem quite excited to fight for someone who just got his ass kicked."

"Ay that's not fair, I put up a pretty good fight, right?" said Jax as he turned to Kirito and Arthur.

"Yeah…I really like that…one move you did," said Kirito as he looked to Arthur for help.

"Y-Yeah that one move right before he knocked you down."

"I hate you guys…"

"By the way Robin, how's your sister doing?" asked Kirito. "Is she okay with you leaving her out of another exciting quest?"

"She'll find out soon, whine about it, and move on like she always does," he answered nonchalantly.

"You didn't even tell her about this…"

"Her knowing would just complicate this process, plus bringing another tank player isn't really necessary."

"Guys…" said Asuna as the carriage came to a stop.

A gang of ragtag bandits blocked the road in the front of them. "Everyone get out of the carriage right now!"

"What's the move?" asked Arthur.

"Seems like something interesting is happening," said Jax as he pulled out his weapon.

Kirito lowered it, "Let's go out there and assess the situation before we jump headfirst into a fight." The team listened and got out of the carriage to find a band of twenty or so bandits surrounding them. Kirito looked around to examine his surroundings first, they've been inside the carriage the whole time and hadn't gotten a chance to see where they were. It seemed like they were in the middle of a forest, not an uncommon spot for bandit raids. ' _There may be archers in the trees but judging by their gears and formation, they don't look that organized. This is probably the whole group that we're dealing with._ ' He used his [Analyze] skill and got a sense of their Levels, widely diverse but none surpassing Level 19.

"We're just passing through to Sparta, let us be on our way and there won't be any trouble," said Kirito, despite it being relatively safe to fight, he'd rather have a more controlled environment in which they can more securely level-up.

The bandits laughed at his statement, ' _This is pretty cliché of you Kayaba._ '

"I don't think you understand your position here. Leave all your belongings, that carriage included, and maybe we'll let you go. After we have a little bit of fun," said one of the higher leveled bandit in the group.

"I call that one," said Asuna.

The other guys looked at him for confirmation. ' _Well I tried…_ ' thought Kirito as he gave the nod and the group of adventurers sprang into action. Kirito, Arthur, and Robin defended the carriage while Asuna, Irelia, and Jax went on the offensive.

"I'm really glad you guys attacked us," said Jax as he jumped in between a group of five. "I get a chance to test these new skills against you guys."

"Cocky son of a bitch!" The five bandits attacked him at the same time but the attacks were either blocked or dodged. The halberd he wielded glowed brighter and brighter the more hits he avoided. Finally, Jax spun and sent out a mini shockwave, stunning everyone who was around him. "[Counter Strike]!"

Kirito observed out of the corner of his eye, ' _Despite his goofiness, Jax does have a unique battle prowess. Creating a skill that can be used both for offense and defense. I should probably think of a skill like that as well._ '

The girls had little trouble on their side, as Irelia and Asuna cruised through most of the lower-leveled bandits with their speed. "[Blade Surge]" Irelia gained a burst of movement and attack speed as she made short work of the fodder bandits, jumping from one target to the next whilst dodging attacks with ease. They fought through to the first bandit that was mouthing off the threats and looked at each other. "He's all yours. Give him a good beating for me," said Irelia as she moved on to deal with other enemies.

"Bring it on!" yelled the leader, now much more nervous after seeing what they just did to his henchmen.

"[Vitals]" said Asuna as she activated her sword skill, but instead of her sword glowing it was her eyes. She smiled as she saw small circles appeared all over her opponent's body.

"[Throwing Knives]!" Small knives flew at her but they were easily parried. The leader used that opening to close the distance between the two of them and began the close range sparring. Despite her speed, the bandit still managed to trade some hits here and there. Seeing that his strikes were hitting harder than Asuna's, the bandit leader gained some confidence and went harder on the offensive. Asuna was quick to capture all the openings her opponent just offered up as she parried the blow and struck two of the small circles with pinpoint accuracy. Instantly bringing the bandit leader on his knees and his HP into the red zone.

On the carriage side, there was little the bandits could do against the combination of Arthur's defense, Robin's cover, and Kirito's offense. With their leader defeated and no progress being made on the carriage, the bandits who were not yet incapacitated retreated. With the threat gone, the adventurers gathered the bandits' whose HP were in the red zone and tied them up.

"Shouldn't we kill them?" asked Robin, whose statement sent the captive bandits into a state of panic, "I mean it's not like they are real people, they're just NPCs right?"

"Well looking at them like this, it's kinda hard to just execute them in cold blood, don't you think?" said Irelia, who suddenly became like an angel to them.

"Yeah I agree, it feels a little distasteful," said Asuna.

"Y-Yes we will never rob anyone ever again, please don't kill us!" begged the bandits.

"Wow that's some careful attention to details right there," commented Kirito on the game design. "Sorry, I did give you guys an out. It's really not personal, it's for the Cor and EXP." He turned and patted Arthur on the shoulder. "Give them a quick death."

Arthur severed all their heads with one swing of his greatsword, ending all the begging and returning them back to the pixels that they were created from. "Wow, clean," commented Jax.

"I could have done it if you didn't want to," said Robin.

"It doesn't bother me knowing that these same bandits could potentially kill one of us for good," said Arthur. "It's better and safer to eliminate them."

"Geez talk about cold-blooded," said Asuna to Kirito as they walked back to the carriage.

"They are just a bunch of 0s and 1s, on top of that they were criminal 0s and 1s," said Kirito as he defended himself. "And the Cor and EXP!"

Asuna sighed, "You're such a hardcore gamer."

The statement cut deep as Kirito muttered to himself at the back of the carriage. "I make sure the roads are safe for any future players that pass by but instead of being praised I get called a hardcore gamer…"

"I think you hurt him with that one," whispered Irelia to Asuna.

"He'll be fine," said Asuna. "He too can be a little bit of a kid sometimes."

The delay caused them to have to settle for camp early that night, and the group picked a spot next to a river for the horses. They set up their tents and gathered around the campfire for dinner. "How long until we get there?" asked Kirito.

"It was supposed to be two days ride but make that three now thanks to the delay," said Irelia.

"That's fine, in fact, I say we slow it down and make it a week's journey. We will make a stop at Corinth for a few days to do some quest and focus on leveling up."

"Eh, why?" asked Jax. "Aren't we trying to clear these Floors as fast as possible?"

"Yes, but we have to make sure that we are familiar enough with these new skills that we have acquired. At this level, even with the skills, I don't think it's enough to match the strength of someone like Theseus who's Level 40."

"I agree," said Asuna, "the skills are draining and I'm not familiar enough yet with the vitals, and to a degree, it was slightly distracting seeing those points highlighted."

"My arm felt kinda sluggish too when I tried to use [Counter Strike]. Normally I would have been able to block all of them, but I just couldn't move my halberd as fast after a few hits," said Jax.

"Same with [Blade Surge], it causes me to lose a lot of movement speed and attack speed after the effects wear off," Irelia added on.

"I'm guessing you need to level up those skills to make them more efficient. Not to mention, it's probably the system's way of balancing the skills. Something that can provide both offensive and defensive power must have some kind of drawbacks," said Kirito. "It's probably fair to assume that the stronger the skill, the more drawbacks it has."

"I haven't made any skills yet since I don't know if there is a limited number of skills you are allowed to create," said Robin. "What if you are supposed to save these custom ones for the later stages of the game?"

"I think it's safe to assume that there won't be a cap on how many skills we can have since SAO is focused on training the skills you need. Even if a person creates a hundred skills, if those skills aren't leveled up then they are going to remain inefficient," said Kirito. ' _Speaking of which, it's about time I make mine so that I can start leveling them up._ '

* * *

When everybody went to sleep, Kirito snuck off and found some crab monsters down the river to test on. First, he created a skill for his signature combat combo, the [Spin Slash Combo]. A two-step combo that uses the swordsman's momentum to spin and land a quick and powerful second hit. Then he added another skill, the [Horizontal Square Combo], a four-step combo that starts with a side slash followed by an upward diagonal slash through the torso. Following that momentum, Kirito spins behind the enemy dealing a downward diagonal slash through the back and ends off with a final torso slash as the opponent turns. Both were extremely high damaging skills, however, due to the nature of combos being so situational, the stamina cost were all relatively low. Using combo skills will lock the player's body into an animation that can't be canceled, leaving them wide open for attacks if the player foolhardily uses them.

' _Something offensive and defensive…I wonder if this will work._ ' He channeled a little bit of mana into his feet and dashed at the crab monster, disappearing for a split second and then reappearing behind the crab. His momentum and sense of balance was completely off and resulted in his planting face first into the river. "Okay, that went considerably well but not the way I had planned it."

The concept was simple. What if instead of just incurring stamina as a cost for the skill, he incurred mana cost into the skill as well? The answer played out just as he expected, by incorporating mana as a cost along with stamina, he is able to free himself from the physical laws of the world and travel into the realm of impossibles. The skill [Riftwalk] was what he thought of, allowing him to quickly teleport or blink from one point to another. However, he quickly found out the drawbacks of this ability as he found himself instantly out of breath and stamina.

' _That cost me around 75% of my stamina bar…unusable, to say the least._ _For now._ '

After doing a few more test he found that the further he tries to blink, the more mana it costs. Using the skill in quick succession also increases the mana cost, but no matter what, the stamina cost stays constant.

"Quite the hard worker, aren't you?"

"I'm just a hardcore gamer," said Kirito as he turned and found Asuna looking over him. "What are you still doing up?"

"Same as you," said Asuna as she came up next to him.

"You sure? Because I'm doing hardcore gamer things right now," said Kirito as he continued to sulk.

"You know the hardcore gamer thing was just a joke right?"

"It wasn't very funny. When you say hardcore gamer you make me sound like a NEET."

Asuna laughed a bit, "Sorry that wasn't my intention. You know, back in the real world I used to play a lot of games as well. I would stay up in my bed with the lights off, playing on my old school Gameboy. Got into a lot of trouble with my mom doing that."

"Did you not do your homework or something?"

"What, no way! I would have you know that I was an excellent student. I bet I had better grades than you."

"Hey don't be so sure, I had pretty good grades too, you know."

"Somehow I doubt that."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," she said as she looked away. "Talking about school and stuff makes me miss the real world. There are so many things I didn't get to do yet."

"Like what?"

"Like going to prom, graduating from university, getting married."

"Wait, do you have a boyfriend in real life?!"

"W-What no, why would you think that?"

"Okay phew, that would have been a shame," thought Kirito.

"Why would that have been a shame?" asked Asuna.

' _WAIT I SAID THAT OUTLOUD?!_ '

"I-I mean it would be a shame if you didn't get to do all that stuff!" He stuttered through his half-baked explanation but it seemed like it worked. "A-Anyway I thought that maybe you had a boyfriend since you were talking about going to prom and getting married."

"These are pretty common things to want to do as a girl. Anyway, what's your motivation for getting out then?"

Kirito took some time and thought about it, before he answered, "I want to beat this game. I don't want Kayaba to get away with doing this scot-free and if I don't beat his game I would feel like in some way he has won."

"Quite the sense of justice you have."

"Well, I guess I would also like to be a game designer and make my own game someday. Sort of giving the same kind of joy that I have experienced to other people."

"Ah, it must be nice."

"What?"

"Being so free, being free to choose what you want to do. Back in the real world, I had everything planned out for me. Which university I was going to attend, which job I was going to get, perhaps even which man I was going to be married to." There was a brief moment of silence between them as Asuna kept her head down.

"Why not fight for what you want to do then? It's your life, you should live it the way you want to live it," said Kirito finally.

"That's easy to say but in the real world, it isn't as simple as it is here. There are some bosses that are just unbeatable."

"Asuna…" said Kirito as he grabbed her hand. "Listen to me, if you can wake up every day, look at death straight in the eye and charge at it. Then there are no bosses out there that are unbeatable for you."

"Thank you…" said Asuna as she lifted up her head. She didn't even realize it but a few tears had rolled out of her eyes. She had felt like a bird in a cage for so long, felt like there was no way out. But now, someone has shown her that she has the strength to control her own life, and even in what can be considered her darkest times, she has never felt so free.

"When we get out of here, let's do the things we want to do," said Kirito as he brought her in for a hug.

"Yeah…"

* * *

 **Author's Note: I know nothing really exciting happened but it's kind of a setup chapter for the big ones in Sparta. If there were aspects of the skill creation process that you guys didn't really understand please comment in the reviews and I'll try my best to answer them (or correct the plot holes). Leave a review and tell me what you guys think of the custom skills so far! Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and I wish you all a good day/night!**

 **Behind the Page**

 **-the answer to last chapter's question: Her heart was frozen from lack of ruth**

 **-ruth: compassion or pity for another**

 **-the [Spin Slash] is actually an attack combo that Kirito has used in the past chapters, check out the fight against the Leaf Sprouts in Chapter 2 and his fight against Skrill in Chapter 5**

 **-the [Horizontal Square Combo] is the skill that Kirito uses many times in the anime (ex. at the start of Episode 8 when he's fighting that lizard monster on Floor 74), the one that draws a rhombus out with overlapping lines after the combo**

 **-if you think my skill naming skill is deficient, I will say there's a reason that you guys will find out later on**

 **-I balanced the skill the way I felt was appropriate, as mentioned in the chapter, the more OP a skill is, the higher the stamina cost or the harsher the debuffs**

 **-combo skills had the benefit of being high damage and low stamina cost since it's considered a high-risk high reward playstyle; if any of you ever played a fighting game you know that landing a combo is very rewarding but missing one lock you in an animation and the opponent has a window to do whatever he/she wants**

 **Response to Reviews**

 **MakkuroX: Thanks for the review! You were super close, off by ONE word, I posted the answer in the Behind the Page section XD**

 **bioben7: Thank you for the encouragement, and a good day/night to you too!**

 **VergilChan: Sent a reply through the messaging system but just wanted to thank you again on here for the great reviews that you've provided. I look forward to reading more of them in the future!**


	15. Heart of Gold

**Chapter 14 – Heart of Gold**

 _November 11, 2022 – Mount Lycabettus, Athens, Floor 2_

"Can you believe that he didn't even tell me he was going to Sparta? He just up and left!" said Yoruichi as she continued her rant about her brother. "I mean we're family, right? Aren't we supposed to rely on each other in situations like this? Did you know he did the exact same thing when we were fighting Illfang?"

The climb up the mountain was hard enough already, and listening to the girl's complaints pushed it to a whole new level of difficulty for the rest of the party. The base of the mountain was surrounded by a forest of pine trees that was guarded by [Great White Mountain Wolves]. Their name was a mouthful to say and their ridiculous size and strength made them a handful to deal with. But with the two best tank players in the game in their party, Agil and Yoruichi, clearing through has been manageable.

"Your Level is quite high for a tank player," commented Agil, trying to change the subject to something less repetitive.

"That's because I was in a 4-man party with my brother this whole time, so our EXP share was a lot higher than most 8-man parties."

"That's quite impressive! Even my original party, with Kirito, Asuna, Merlin, and Klein, struggled as a 5-man unit in the beginning."

"It's because you guys went to the higher leveled zones right away. Cap Town, right? Honestly speaking, my brother and I would have ranked a lot higher if we met our other party members earlier and did the same," she looked over with a sly grin. Her bright and warm golden iris contrasted her brother's cold green ones, similar to their personalities. "Robin would have been 4th and I would have been the one known as the strongest tank player and possess the title of [The Shield]."

Agil laughed heartily as he ruffled up her short dark purple hair. "You have a lot of spirit in you! If you do end up surpassing me and getting the title, then I know that it's in good hands."

"Another thing I'm frustrated about is the way people talk about your original party! It's way too overhyped," said Yoruichi as she pouted slightly. "In terms of talent yield, I think our party was much better."

"Really? We had the 4th, 6th, and 7th seat in the top ten and both Klein and I made the top 20 list as well."

"I made the top 20 list as well, and we held the 3rd, 8th, and 9th seat."

"The 3rd and 8th seat…? Wait, Jax and Irelia were in your first party?!"

"Yeah, we were lacking DPS members and Irelia felt the need for a tank. Thinking back, she really was the only thing that held our team together…" said Yoruichi as she remembered all the disagreements Robin and Jax had.

"Is that why you decided to become a tank?"

"No, I actually also wanted to be a DPS player but, in my brother's words: 'I need a meat shield, be a tank.'"

"Quite the sibling you have…"

"Yeah, I know," she said as she sighed. "I wish he wouldn't treat me like a baby and leave me out of the loop every time something important happens. He's only just a few years older than me!" Agil suddenly stopped right in his track and signaled everyone to stop. His shield already raised and ready. "What's wrong?"

"Shh, something's coming!" [Detect Danger], a useful skill to have as the vanguard of the party. "Yoruichi, take the back."

The peaceful pine trees that served as scenery for a nice stroll suddenly became eerie curtains that hid dangerous beasts in its shadows. Agil would not have reacted like this unless it was a monster that posed a real threat to them. The silence was always the worst part, the not knowing of what and when. Large figures appeared through the shadows, giving but an outline for the adventurers' imagination. The monsters slowly stepped out into the light and gave the group a huge sense of relief. It was a pack of [Great White Mountain Wolves], nothing the group couldn't handle.

"God dammit Agil, don't scare us like that!"

' _What I felt were just wolves?_ ' thought Agil as he frantically looked around for a sign of anything else. ' _No, this sense of dread…something is definitively out here._ _Not to the right, not to the left, not in front and not behind…Wait…abo-'_

He couldn't finish his thought. Whatever had happened, happened in an instant. In the blink of an eye, something had flown in and razed everything in front of them. The wolves, the trees, even the ground itself. The players were not spared either as the impact and wind pressure of whatever caused the damage blew their squad away. Agil coughed as dust clogged his throat, he looked around and saw a few members slowly get up. A good sign, nobody seemed dead yet. He looked forward and saw a trail of blood and mangled wolf bodies leading into the dust cloud. And that's when it hit him. The full presence of the danger that was in front of them, the real danger. They were lucky that the dust still gave them cover, whatever miracle that had lead this thing to attack the wolves instead of them will not happen again. They had to run, now.

"What in the world was that?!" yelled one of the foolish adventurers. Agil could feel his heart drop as the looming figure in the dust cloud twitched at the sound of the human voice. He tried his best to grab the attention of his party members and signaled the retreat without making a single noise. The thing was looking for them now, he could see its head move back and forth, trying to find its prey through the dust. With a break of luck, Agil's party managed to escape into the bushes right before the dust cloud began dissipated.

Through the tiny holes in the bushes, the adventurers saw the dust cloud slowly reveal their predator. Cold sweat rolled down Agil's brows as he felt a chill run through his entire body. It was the most horrific, unnatural and raw form of terror they've ever seen. A beast with the body of a lion, the wings of an eagle and a snake for a tail. The fact that it had its back turned to them was the only thing that kept some from screaming in fear.

"Run," Agil whispered, "run, run."

The bushes rustled slightly at their movement but it wasn't missed by the beast as the snake's head snapped in their direction. Agil had eye contact with it and the snake hissed. They were found.

"RUN!"

Without a second more of hesitation, the group bolted as fast as they could without looking back. All they could hear was the blood churning and deafening roar of the beast behind them; a terrifying combination of the high pitched sound of the predator of the air, the low rumbling of the predator of the land, and the hiss of the predator of the shadow. It didn't take long for it to take chase as the players felt the ground shake as the beast closed the distance between them. They ran into a dead end at the top of a waterfall and could do nothing but look behind and see the trees they had passed get crushed and knocked away.

"There's only one thing to do!" said Yoruichi.

"JUMP!"

The waterfall was high and the fall was much longer than just a simple thrill. As soon as the players landed in the water, they all swam up in a panic, scared out of their minds that the beast might have followed them. But instead, when they came ashore, they found that the monster was no longer chasing them. In fact, they couldn't even see it anymore at the top of the waterfall. "Guess we weren't worth its time," said Yoruichi as she tried to catch her breath, she couldn't help but laugh at the situation. "Maybe it didn't find us tasty enough to chase after." Agil joined in as well, something about escaping death's clutch by a hair just seems to heighten a person's sense of humor in that moment.

* * *

"You two feeling better?" asked Daedalus as he came in to check on the two mages.

"Yeah, the burns have pretty much fully healed," said Merlin as she checked her arm. She looked over at Mukuro, who was still bedridden. "Jealous?"

Mukuro laughed, "No actually, I'm quite comfortable here. Well-fed, beautiful nurses coming to check on me every few hours."

Merlin gave him a flick on the forehead, "Get better soon."

"I'm sorry I couldn't do anything about the scar," said Daedalus as Merlin left, "the burn was much more severe."

"It's fine," said Mukuro as he unbandaged the roll of cloth that covered the crimson ridge across his back.

"It's really quite a miracle you survived, I thought you were gone for sure."

"Yes, it's hard to believe, isn't it?" Mukuro gave him a smile as he rebandaged the wound.

"It truly is."

As soon as Merlin got out, she went straight to the library where Daedalus had prepared a spot for the mages to practice their spells. On arrival, she was greeted with congratulations of getting healed from the others.

"It's good to see that you're better, Professor," said one of the mages.

"Thank you, Mordred," Merlin responded. The mage was the stereotypical bookworm character, with glasses and black hair in a bowl cut. But despite his average looks, he was the second best mage after her and one of her first students. Which was probably why he treated her with such high respect.

"Professor…are you sure you are well enough to continue training…?" asked another one. An understandable worry from her perspective, after witnessing Merlin's magical unconscious suicide attempt.

"Nonsense! She is the best among us, of course she's ready to continue!" said Mordred.

"It's okay Mordred, she's just worried after seeing what had happened before," said Merlin as she gestured him to calm down. "Also, there's no need to worry. That won't be happening anymore." She turned back to Mordred, "I heard that you too have unlocked the meaning from a spell tome."

"Yes, but nothing as complicated as yours. Daedalus told us that throughout history, you've been the only mage to ever crack the [Cold Pyromancer]."

"It wasn't without help," said Merlin. Truthfully, she couldn't have done it without Mukuro's hints and advice.

Mordred narrowed his brow slightly, "Is that other guy okay as well?"

"His name is Mukuro, Mordred. And yes, he's getting better."

Mordred clicked his tongue under his breath and turned to walk away. "Wait," said Merlin. "Before you go, why don't you show me the spells you've learned."

His face lit up slightly but he kept up his air of formality and pride. "Just one so far. The main lesson from the spell tome I read was to teach how to harness the power of mana in a raw and materialized form rather than turning it into something else." He brought his hand together and channeled his mana in between them. A pure blue color concentrated in his hands and materialized into a ball of magic. "[Overload]" He threw the ball at the practice dummy Daedalus had set up and blasted its head off. "It's actually quite a weak spell by itself but it has a low mana cost, low cooldown and a fast cast time. I believe the other spells in this tome will teach me how to enhance the damage."

"Keep up the good work then," said Merlin as she patted him on the shoulder.

"Yes, Professor." Mordred walked away for a second but then quickly turned back. "If you don't mind, would you consider it equivalent exchange if you showed us one of the spells you've learned?"

Merlin cracked a little smile, quite frankly she was just as excited as they were to be trying out the spells she's learned from her new spell tome [Enkai – The Fire Commandments]. "I've only just got one as well so far. The Fire Commandments taught me how to manipulate fire," she said as she stepped forward. To start off, she launched a few basic [Fireballs] in different directions. "In whatever way I want."

"[Enkai]"

As soon as she said those words, she felt the presence of every single spark of flame around her. Not just the fire from the [Fireballs] she casted but also from the torches inside the palace, the lamp resting on Daedalus' desk and the firewood burning in the Athenians' home. It was an amazing feeling, to be so attuned with this element. Her mind went back to the fight she had with the little match girl and visualized the way a single one of her match turned into a giant pillar of fire. It all happened in a single millisecond. One moment, the fire from the [Fireballs], the torches, the lamp and the firewood burned in different places. The next, the fires had all extinguished and a circle appeared in front of her.

"[Pillar of Flame]!" At her command, out came a fiery pillar that burned everything above it till it hit the sky itself. It was a majestic creation, a piece of architecture that seemed to support the sky itself.

"Amazing! How much mana did you use to cast a spell this big?!"

"That pillar isn't fueled by just my mana, I don't nearly have the pool necessary to create something this big."

"Then what did you do?"

"I told you, I can manipulate fire however I want."

Right on cue, Daedalus came out, "What just happened to all the torches?"

"That, probably," said Mordred as he pointed to the giant pillar of fire in front of them.

"Sorry, I'll return them," said Merlin as the pillar disappeared and the fires returned to their original place.

"Quite the reward you've reaped for the arduous trial you went through," said Daedalus. "But please do use discretion when practicing. Wouldn't want the people of Athens to worry."

"Got it."

"Daedalus!" said Agil angrily as he walked up.

"Agil, how was your trip to Mount Lycabettus?"

"Terrible, we almost got killed because you didn't warn us about that beast there!"

"Beast? You mean the [Great White Mountain Wolves]?"

"No, the one that has the body of a lion, wings of an eagle and a snake for a tail. It's a miracle we were able to escape."

"That can't be," said Daedalus as he furrowed his brows. "We've been through that mountain many times and I've never heard of any reports of a monster matching your description."

"Well it's there and I think you should deal with it before it decides to attack Athens."

"Noted, thank you for informing me."

"You okay?" asked Merlin.

"Yeah, luckily all of us made it out, but if anything went wrong even just a little…"

"It didn't, that's what matters. You should take it easy for the rest of the day, you've done enough."

"Not nearly as much as I wanted to. A lot of craft players were counting on me to bring back the materials. They're going to be disappointed."

"You guys all carry way too many responsibilities. If they're disappointed then tell them to go up there themselves," said Yoruichi.

"That was the philosophy that Skrill had. Kirito believes in a group of players that support one another. The combat players go out and gather the materials for the craft players and in return, we get better potions, armor, and weapons. It's all a cycle, and if we were to ignore a portion of it then we would actually be less efficient and progress slower than if we were to help each other out."

"But why is it always you guys that are putting everyone else ahead of yourselves? I've never seen any of the other players give you guys a hand with a quest or share rewards and loot. If that's the case, then doesn't that just mean the scared weaker players are just getting a free ride while we put our lives on the line?"

"If not us, then who?" asked Agil as he looked into her eyes. "As the strongest players in SAO, there are no one else to defer to. Only we can stand in the front line and take this world on full-force because if we don't do it…there is nobody else that will. Know that this is the very principle that your brother is living out right now. He knows full well that going to Sparta is far more dangerous than staying here but he chose to go anyway because he knows that there is nobody else that can replace him there."

Listening to Agil made Yoruichi feel embarrassed about her attitude towards the weaker players. She wanted to be treated like an adult but only then did she realize that she still had the mentality of a child. Her brother understood that and that was why he has kept her away from these missions. "One last thing Yoruichi," said Agil. "[The Shield] will always put the safety of others in front of his or her own."

"Do you think you were a little too harsh?" asked Merlin when Yoruichi walked away.

"She's far more talented than me at fighting. One day she'll become the strongest tank player and take up my role. It's important she understands this sooner rather than later."

"And you? What will you do when that time comes?"

Agil laughed a little, "What I've always done. Help out the crafting players get materials and the weaker players level up. Maybe I'll even open up my own shop like I have in the real world."

Merlin smiled and patted him on the back. "You play a bigger role than you think Agil. You're more than just a shield, don't think you can be so easily replaced."

* * *

After a short chat with Merlin, he decided it was time to deliver the bad news to the craft players he had promised materials for. He made his way down to the market area and found the craft players working diligently at their individual creations. "Agil, you're back! Guys, he's back!" said one of the blacksmith players on sight of him.

"Hey…" he responded weakly. ' _This isn't going to be easy…_ '

"How was the trip? Did it go smoothly?" asked one of the alchemists.

"About that…"

"Ay, Agil's back! Have you eaten dinner yet? If not, let's all go to a restaurant together or something!" suggested another craft player.

"Before that, I should tell you guys something," said Agil, dialing down the excitement.

"What's with the serious face, what is it?"

"The trip, we weren't able to complete it. I wasn't able to get you the materials you guys needed, I'm sorry."

A moment of silence followed and finally one of the craft players spoke. "That's it?"

"Huh?"

"I mean…is that it?"

"Isn't that a big deal? You guys won't be able to level if you don't have the materials right?"

"Yeah but…" they looked at one another, "who cares? All that matters is that you returned safely. You shouldn't even apologize, we feel bad enough for asking you to risk your life so that we can level up and advance. If you were worried about us being angry, don't. You, Kirito, Merlin, you're all the cornerstones of this player base. Without you guys, we wouldn't even be where we are right now." The rest of the craft players nodded in agreement.

"I'm…a cornerstone of the player base?"

"Yeah, if Kirito is the foundation of the front line, and Merlin is the foundation of the mages, then you are the foundation of the support and craft players."

' _You play a bigger role than you think._ ' Merlin's words rang in his mind. He had never looked at it like that. He always believed that someone was eventually going to take up the torch and replace him as the strongest tank and that was going to be it for his big role in the player base. He would never have believed the support and craft players had such high regards for him.

"But…if you insist on apologizing, we won't mind being treated for dinner."

Agil smiled, "Very well, it'll be my treat for tonight then!"

The group went their separate ways once they ate and drank their fill. On his solo walk back to the inn, he remembered what Kirito had said when he challenged Skrill. ' _If we clear this, we clear this with the whole player base._ ' Not just the DPS players, not just the support players, not just the craft players, but all the players. It was refreshing to see that the players bought into that philosophy and that there was that feedback for working so hard.

His thoughts were interrupted when he walked by an alley and heard a strange noise. It was dark and he couldn't see very well what was there. Half of him told him to keep walking, but the other half told him to see what it was. Perhaps it was the alcohol that he had just drank but tonight he was feeling more adventurous than usual. "Is anyone here?" he called out, but no response came. Mustering up a bit more courage, he decided to step deeper into the shadows. Still nothing. Feeling like this adventure was beginning to turn into a horror, he decided that was far enough. But just as he was about to turn back, a hand reached out from the shadows and grabbed hold of his leg. As big as he was, and as strong as he was; any man that gets grabbed in a dark alley is going to be terrified. Just as he was about to strike back whatever had grabbed him, the cloud parted and moonlight seeped through into the alley, revealing a little girl with long golden hair.

"Please Mister, help me…"

 _Quest Started: Heart of Gold_

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hey guys, hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! Leave a review and tell me what you guys think of the two storylines happening right now (the Sparta group and the Athens group)! Also, take a guess at which mythical creature attacked Agil's group!**

 **Behind the Page**

 **-FINALLY the introduction of Robin's little sister (even though she was revealed as early as Chapter 6, you finally actually see her in Chapter 14)**

 **-looks based off of Yoruichi Shihoin from Bleach**

 **-ranked 18** **th** **in the initial top 20 list**

 **-currently second strongest tank player after Agil**

 **-I will be explaining what each of the titles does when I make the character cards, meanwhile, take a guess at their effects XD**

 **-if you guys remember in Chapter 6, Robin took out all the range guys from Skrill's party and Jax said: "A helpful act from a benevolent soul, it seems." Now you guys know the connection :D (totally not something I just thought of to cover that plot hole, totally)**

 **Response to Reviews**

 **TheSoloPlayer: Always happy to see your reviews after each chapter, thanks for the support!**

 **MakkuroX: Yeah it was definitively a hard one but it was definitively a good attempt, hope you continue to enjoy the story!**

 **StarryArtist: Happy someone caught that one, thanks for the review XD**


	16. Character Cards Set 1

**Author's Note: Hey guys I know this is not the usual story chapter upload but I've worked really hard on these and I hope you would take some time out of your day to give me your feedback. If you guys don't like these and feel like they don't really add anything to the story then tell me also so that I know not to release these in the future. Finally, if you guys have any questions about any of this, please do not hesitate to ask.**

 **Character Cards Set 1**

 ***I will try to create these every so often to help you guys keep track of the characters and their growth, as well as their movesets and abilities, titles, stats, etc. If you guys see any balance issues please either leave a review or send me a PM!**

 ***Since this is the first set of cards I'm making I'll include a legend, as well as a breakdown of what each stat does. This gives those who are interested a deeper look into the character's strength and weaknesses and allows me to go into a lot more details with the mechanics of the game itself. For those who don't really care about the nitty gritty, it saves them from having to put up with massive exposition dumps in the middle of the story.**

 ***Stats are shown without any adjustments from items, titles, skills, and masteries.**

In SAO, there are 8 stats that the player can invest points in as they level up:

STR – strength increases the physical strength of the player and the power of their physical attacks

SPD – speed increases the attack speed of a player and allows them to strike faster

ACC – accuracy increases a player's ability to land vital hits – critical hits – which does more damage than a normal attack

INT – intelligence increases the magic power of magic users and mana pool, their spells are more powerful and their healing more effective

WIS – wisdom increases the magic regeneration rate of the player and increases the variety of spells they can learn

VIT – vitality increases a player's HP and their resistance towards debuffs and special types of damage (ex. Poison, burn, etc.)

DEF – defense increases a player's toughness to attacks and their stamina bar

DEX – dexterity increases a player's ability to dodge by enhancing their quickness and flexibility

*EDIT: I have changed the CRT stat to ACC so that it is better integrated with bows

*Each time a character levels up, they gain 5 stat points to invest, their maximum HP increases, their mana pool increases, and their stamina bar increases.

*Stats can go up by performing actions that corresponds to the stats (ex. A tank taking damage for the party every time will naturally have his DEF and VIT stat go up)

*EDIT: I have separated skills from masteries. Skills are more action moves players perform and masteries are their proficiency with specific actions (cooking, hiding, etc.) or gear.

*EDIT 2: I have changed the damage rating of the weapons to their base rating.

 **NOTE: THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THESE AS SOME SECTIONS ARE UPDATED FOR THE MOST RECENT CHAPTERS! I SUGGEST YOU CATCH UP TO THE MOST RECENT CHAPTER BEFORE READING!**

* * *

 **IGN: Kirito LVL 22**

 **HP: 788/788 MP: 311/311 SP: 627/627**

 **STR: 88 SPD: 9 ACC: 10 INT: 5**

 **WIS: 6 VIT: 12 DEF: 12 DEX: 13**

Titles:

I – The title held by the strongest player in Sword Art Online. Whether you earned it through the strength of your arm, the wits of your mind, or the charisma of your leadership, the players now see and respects you as the strongest, the First.

\+ Unlock World Announcement interface feature

\+ 30% to all stats

\+ 25% DMG to enemy units when leading a raid party

\+ Rally (Passive): Allies in the same raid party gain +5% to all stats

Slayer of The Red-Tusked Boar – A title held by those who have slain [The Red-Tusked Boar].

\+ 10% DMG to [Boars]

Skills:

Rift Walk (Lvl. 9/50) – Breaking through the physical realm, the player teleports to a nearby location (4 meters radius).

Cost: 50 MP, 150 SP

-Each subsequent Rift Walk within the next 15 seconds increases the MP cost by 20.

-Each additional meter beyond the original zone increases the MP cost by 20.

Spin Slash (Lvl. 13/50) – Using the momentum of the first swing, the player spins for a quick and powerful second hit. _Combo skill._

Cost: 50 SP

-Combo Requisite: Empowered attack.

-Cannot be used when wielding two-handed weaponry.

-Deal 100 attack damage and stun every enemy hit for 0.5 seconds.

-Uninterruptible.

*Combo Requisite: An action or circumstance required before the player is able to use the combo skill.

*Uninterruptible: Player is unable to stop the animation once the skill is used. Animation will stop if damaged.

Horizontal Square (Lvl. 10/50) – A four-step combo utilized by quick and skilled players to deal massive damage to an unguarded enemy. _Combo skill._

Cost: 50 SP

-Combo Requisite: Enemy unguarded.

-Cannot be used when wielding two-handed weaponry.

-Deal 50 attack damage for every successful hit.

-Interruptible.

*Interruptible: Player is able to stop the animation once the is used. Animation will stop if damaged.

Empowered Attack (Lvl. 52/1000) – The player concentrates and charges up a powerful attack.

Cost: 10 SP

Masteries:

Hiding (Lvl. 7/500) – Affects a player's ability to hide and conceal his/her presence.

Light Armor (Lvl. 39/1000) – A player's mastery of light armor. (Level up by getting hit, dodging and moving in light armor)

One-Handed Weaponry (Lvl. 52/1000) – A player's mastery of one-handed weapon.

Items:

Coat of Midnight – A black coat that shrouds and protects the player with the covers of the night.

-Boost player's [Hiding] skill by 10.

Acquired: Last Attack bonus of [Illfang the Kobold Lord]

Type: Light Armor

Armor: 58

Value: 6513 Cor

Black Crow – Made with the legendary blade Muramasa, the mere sight of this cursed blade puts the fear of death into the hearts of the wielder's enemies.

Legendary Base

\+ Death Mark (Active): When [Muramasa] is drawn, seal your enemies' fate by marking them with a cursed mark. Enemies marked with [Death Mark] take 25% additional damage. Killing an enemy marked with [Death Mark] will grant you an additional 25% damage dealt for 4 minutes. For every [Death Mark] not collected within 4 minutes, lose 100 HP

Cost: 0 SP

Cooldown: 60 Minutes

\+ Flawless Swordsmanship (Passive): Sword Art skills cost 50% less. Bonus increases to 60% at One-Handed Lvl. 500 and to 80% at One-Handed Lvl. 1000

Acquired: [A Favor for Hades] quest

Type: One-Handed

Damage: 250

Value: 0*

*Sword Art Online system's way of telling players not to sell the item.

* * *

 **IGN: Asuna LVL 21**

 **HP: 674/674 MP: 308/308 SP: 557/557**

 **STR: 14 SPD: 46 ACC: 44 INT: 5**

 **WIS: 5 VIT: 7 DEF: 8 DEX: 22**

Titles:

VII – The title held by the seventh strongest player of Sword Art Online. You are complete and perfect both physically and spiritually. A seeker of truth and a bringer of harmony, that is Seventh.

\+ 20% ACC, INT, VIT

\+ Calming Presence (Passive): Allies in the same raid party gain +20% effectiveness to healing potions, and spells.

Savior of the Leaf Sprout Village – The title held by a player that has completed the quest line [A Poor Little Leaf Sprout].

\+ [Leaf Sprouts] are non-aggressive towards the player.

Skills:

Vitals (Lvl. 12/50) – The player strikes fast and true, dealing high amount of damage and ignoring armor. _Active skill._

Cost: 10 SP/Minute Active

-The player identifies [Vitals] of nearby enemies

-When a [Vital] is struck, the attack becomes a critical strike + an additional 20% of damage dealt in true damage, heals the player for 20 HP, and grants a 20% movement speed bonus that decays over 1.75 seconds.

Parry (Lvl. 10/50) – By grasping the timing of her opponent's strike, the player parries and nullifies the attack.

Cost: 50 SP

-[Parry] will only be successful if cast 0.5 (0.25 + 0.25/10 Lvl.) seconds before the attack hits.

Healing Hands (Lvl. 18/50) – A minor healing spell that is meant for out of combat usage.

Cost: 15 MP/Second

-Heal an ally for 10 HP/Second

Empowered Attack (Lvl. 47/1000) - The player concentrates and charges up a powerful attack.

Cost: 10 SP

Masteries:

Light Armor (Lvl. 32/1000) – A player's mastery of light armor. (Level up by taking hits, dodging, and moving in light armor)

One-Handed Weaponry (Lvl. 54/1000) – A player's mastery of one-handed weapon.

Cooking (Lvl. 29/1000) - A essential skill to life that all should have.

Items:

Wind Fleuret – A thin rapier that strikes as fast as the wind itself and as light as a leaf.

Acquired: [A Poor Little Leaf Sprout] quest reward

Type: One-Handed

Damage: 25

Value: 2583 Cor

Sky Valkyrie Battle Armor – A valkyrie is a noble and elegant maiden, she is a helping spirit of God. A valkyrie is also a fearsome and powerful warrior, she is the chooser of the slain. Dominating on land, and unmatched in the sky, such were the valkyries that fought in Ragnarok.

-Valkyrja Mode: Must be wearing full armor set. Once a day, a valkyrie warrior may unleash the full fury of their angelic power. + 420*, HP, 420*, MP, 420 SP*, 21** STR, 21** SPD, 21** ACC, 21** INT, 21** WIS. Duration 2.1*** minutes. Once [Valkyrja Mode] wears off, the valkyrie gains [Heaven's Fatigue]. Heaven's Fatigue: All stats get reduced by half (including HP, MP and SP).

*20 per LVL

**1 per LVL

***LVL/10

Acquired: [Armor of God] quest reward

Type: Light Armor

Armor: 86

Value: 0*

*Sword Art Online system's way of telling players not to sell the item.

Wind Circlet – Part of the Sky Valkyrie Battle Armor set. The flow of wind pushes and carries a valkyrie warrior forward.

+20 DEX

Acquired: [Armor of God] quest reward

Type: Circlet

Armor: 0

Value: 0*

Sky Valkyrie Battle Boots – Part of the Sky Valkyrie Battle Armor set. A strong pair of boots for graceful landings from the sky.

-Reduce fall damage by 40%

Acquired: [Armor of God] quest reward

Type: Light Armor

Armor: 36

Value: 0*

Sky Valkyrie Battle Gloves – Part of the Sky Valkyrie Battle Armor set. A weightless arm guard made from enchanted silver for high speed combat.

+20 SPD

Acquired: [Armor of God] quest reward

Type: Light Armor

Armor: 34

Value: 0*

* * *

 **IGN: Merlin LVL 22**

 **HP: 772/772 MP: 1462/1462 SP: 551/551**

 **STR: 5 SPD: 5 ACC: 5 INT: 79**

 **WIS: 37 VIT: 11 DEF: 10 DEX: 6**

Titles:

VI – The title held by the sixth strongest player in Sword Art Online. Through the power your mind, you have attained great power and has distinguished yourself from your peers. A calm leader with a cool heart, who is Sixth.

\+ 25% INT, and WIS

\+ Professor (Passive): Allies in the same raid party gain +20% Cooldown Reduction, and Mana Regeneration.

High Mage – The title held by the strongest mage player in Sword Art Online. The power of the arcane is within your grasp, whether it be used for destruction, healing, or bending the will of others, it is up to you.

\+ 22* WIS, and INT

\+ 15 Tutor Skill

*1 per LVL

Skills:

Fireball (Lvl. 23/50) – A ball of flame that will a blaze anything in its path.

Cost: 80 MP

Cooldown: 2 Seconds

-Deal 100 magical damage, and set the enemy [Ablaze]

-[Ablaze] deals 10 magical damage per second over 5 seconds

Pillar of Flame (Lvl. 2/50) – A pillar of fire that incinerates everything above it.

Cost: 1000 MP

Cooldown: 5 Minutes

-Deal 500 magical damage to all enemies within the pillar, and set the enemies [Ablaze]. Enemies at the center of the pillar take 20% more damage.

Enkai (Lvl. 4/50) – As a mage, you have developed a strong bond with the fire element and have gained a superior level of control and understanding regarding the fiery flames.

Cost: 0 MP

Cooldown: 1 Minute

-After channeling for 30 seconds, your next fire spell costs 20-50% less mana, and more damage, depending on the amount of fire in the area.

-Fire Bending (Active): You are able to control fire around you, bending it to your will and utilizing it as you see fit. Cost: 100 MP. Cooldown: 2 Minutes.

Masteries:

Light Armor (Lvl. 8/1000) – A player's mastery of light armor. (Level up by taking hits, dodging, and moving in light armor)

Spell Casting (Lvl. 60/1000) – A player's mastery over the arcane forces.

Items:

-Nothing worth mentioning yet.

* * *

 **IGN: Agil** **LVL 19**

 **HP: 1349/1349 MP: 302/302 SP: 979/979**

 **STR: 5 SPD: 5 ACC: 5 INT: 5**

 **WIS: 5 VIT: 57 DEF: 58 DEX: 5**

Titles:

The Shield – The title held by the strongest tank player in Sword Art Online. You are the wall that faces danger. You are the shelter the weak seek. You sacrifice flesh and blood to protect those dear to you. You are Escutcheon, Aegis, you are The Shield.

\+ 950* HP

\+ 380* Armor

\+ Stand Behind Me (Passive): When protecting allies in the same raid party, gain 40% damage reduction.

*+50 HP/LVL, +20 Armor/LVL

Skills:

-WIP

Masteries:

Heavy Armor (Lvl. 59/1000): A player's mastery of heavy armor. (Level up by getting hit, dodging and moving in heavy armor)

Two-Handed Weaponry (Lvl. 13/1000) – A player's mastery of two-handed weapons.

Blocking (Lvl. 67/1000) – Affects a players ability to block attacks.

Items:

-Nothing worth mentioning yet.

* * *

 **IGN: Robin LVL: 21**

 **HP: 642/642 MP: 308/308 SP: 525/525**

 **STR: 58 SPD: 5 ACC: 53 INT: 5**

 **WIS: 5 VIT: 5 DEF: 5 DEX: 17**

Titles:

IX – The title held by the ninth strongest player in Sword Art Online. You have stayed true to your shot and to yourself, there is no marksman greater than you. Pick off your enemies from a distance or get up-close and personal with rapid fire shots, the choice is yours Seventh.

+Pack Hunter (Passive): When there are tank players in your party, +10* to STR, SPD, and ACC

+Lone Wolf (Passive): When there are no tank players in your party, +10* to all defensive stats (VIT, DEF, DEX)

*1/2 LVL

Hunterborn – As a ranger, you have learned the art of hunting prey. Now wherever you might go, food will never be a problem.

+Field Dress (Skill)

+Harness Skin Pelt (Skill)

+Harvest Ingredients (Skill)

+Butcher Meat (Skill)

Skills

Hawk Eye (Lvl. 13/50) – Gain the power of the greatest air predator as you stalk your prey from afar. _Active Skill._

Cost: 10 SP/Minute Active

+13* (+1/Lvl.) ACC

Eagle Vision (Lvl. 13/50) – Warg into an eagle and observe your surroundings.

Cost: 100 SP

-When this skill is activated for the first time, an [Eagle] will be summoned as a follower. [Eagle] stats scale will the Lvl. of [Eagle Vision]. If [Eagle] is slain, +500 MP cost of activating [Eagle Vision] next time.

-Detect all enemies within 31* (1/3 ACC + Lvl.) meters

Curved Shot (Lvl. 10/50) – Curve the trajectory of your arrows.

Cost: 30 SP

Empowered Shot (Lvl. 57/1000) - The player concentrates and charges up a powerful attack.

Cost: 10 SP

Masteries:

Field Dress (Lvl. 10/10) – Skill gained from the title [Hunterborn].

-When a monster is slain, the option to field dress the carcass is available (must be performed within 30 minutes of the kill). Time taken to field dress decreases by Lvl.

Harness Skin Pelt (Lvl. 4/10) – Skill gained from the title [Hunterborn].

-Target must have been field dressed.

-Harness the skin pelt of the slain monster. Pelt quality increases by Lvl. Time taken to harness skin pelt decreases by Lvl. Pelt can be sold to merchant or be used as crafting materials for smithing.

Harvest Ingredients (Lvl. 2/10) – Skill gained from the title [Hunterborn].

-Target must have been field dressed.

-Harvest the organs of the slain monster. Ingredient quality increases by Lvl. Time taken to harvest ingredients decreases by Lvl. Ingredients can be used as crafting materials for alchemy.

Butcher Meat (Lvl. 1/10) – Skill gained from the title [Hunterborn].

-Butcher the meat of the slain monster. Meat quality increases by Lvl. Time taken to butcher meat decreases by Lvl. Meat can be cooked and eaten. (Some food products may contain bacteria that could cause illness if the product is mishandled or cooked improperly. For you protection, please make sure to have the sufficient Cooking skill.)

Cooking (Lvl. 1/500) – A essential skill to life that all should have.

Hiding (Lvl. 19/500) – Affects a player's ability to hide and conceal his/her presence.

Light Armor (Lvl. 11/1000) – A player's mastery of light armor. (Level up by taking hits, dodging, and moving in light armor)

Long Bow (Lvl. 49/1000) – A player's mastery of the long bow.

Short Bow (Lvl. 14/1000) – A player's mastery of the short bow.

Items:

-Nothing worth mentioning yet.

* * *

 **IGN: Jax LVL: 24**

 **HP: 1068/1068 MP: 314/314 SP: 660/660**

 **STR: 72 SPD: 34 ACC: 10 INT: 5**

 **WIS: 5 VIT: 22 DEF: 12 DEX: 10**

Titles:

III – The third held by the third strongest player in Sword Art Online. You have acquired this title with your bravery and unorthodox tactics in battle. Your ingenious battle sense and carefree attitude has made you one of the strongest in the game. Now, aim for even higher Third!

\+ Grandmaster (Passive): All weapon masteries are tracked under one category.

\+ Last Stance (Passive): When your HP falls below 10%, all attacks that deal more than half of your remaining HP is reduced by 50%.

Skills:

Leap Strike (Lvl. 12/50) – Leap into the air and deal damage coming down.

-Deal 108* (STR X 1.5) damage

Cost: 50 SP

Counter Strike (Lvl. 10/50) – Enter into a defensive stance for 2 seconds causing all basic attacks to miss. At the end of the duration, stun all nearby enemies for 1 second and deal 50 damage.

Cost: 75 SP

Cooldown: 14 Seconds

Empowered Strike (Lvl. 55/1000) – The player concentrates and charges up a powerful attack.

Cost: 10 SP

Spear Toss (Lvl. 2/50) – A player's ability to accurately throw a spear. Strength influenced by the player's weapon mastery.

Masteries:

Weaponry (Lvl. 55/1000) – Mastery of all weaponry. _Created by Grandmaster skill._

Light Armor (Lvl. 44/1000) – A player's mastery of light armor. (Level up by taking hits, dodging, and moving in light armor)

Items:

Steel Dadao – A machete-like variety of the Chinese sabre which has enhanced cleaving strength.

Acquired: [A Drink for a Monk] quest reward

Type: One-Handed

Damage: 33

Value: 2049

Steel Halberd – A combined spear and battle-ax.

Acquired: Item drop from Kobold Sentinels on Floor 1

Type: Two-Handed

Damage: 70

Value: 3089

* * *

 **IGN: Irelia LVL: 21**

 **HP: 674/674 MP: 308/308 SP: 557/557**

 **STR: 41 SPD: 41 ACC: 22 INT: 5**

 **WIS: 5 VIT: 7 DEF: 8 DEX: 22**

Titles:

VIII – The title held by the ninth strongest player in Sword Art Online. You dance at the edge of life and death, using your superior speed and dexterity to outsmart those stronger than you and using your strength and accuracy to destroy those faster than you. You are a balanced blade, dance on Eighth.

\+ Balancer (Passive): When an ally in the same party is healed, the HP may be transferred to this player instead. When this player is healed, the HP may be transferred to an ally in the same party instead.

Skills:

Blade Surge (Lvl. 14/50) – A burst of speed and power that enables the player to dash from target to target.

-Dash forward to strike the target, dealing 80* (Weapon Damage + ½ ACC) damage

-If target is killed, [Blade Surge] is refreshed

-Once [Blade Surge] wears off, -18* SPD

*[50 – Skill Lvl.]/2

Cost: 75 SP

Equilibrium Strike (Lvl. 4/50) – A shockwave attack that balances the scale and turns the tide of battle.

-Slow the target down for 1 second

-If the player has less HP than the target, then the blow stuns the target instead

Cost: 100 SP

Empowered Attack (Lvl. 47/1000) - The player concentrates and charges up a powerful attack.

Cost: 10 SP

Masteries:

Light Armor (Lvl. 32/1000) – A player's mastery of light armor. (Level up by taking hits, dodging, and moving in light armor)

One-Handed Weaponry (Lvl. 54/1000) – A player's mastery of one-handed weapon.

Items:

Steel Jian – A double-edged straight sword used during the last 2500 years in China.

Acquired: [A Drink for a Monk] quest reward

Type: One-Handed Sword

Damage: 28

Value: 2037

* * *

 **IGN: Arthur LVL: 25**

 **HP: 1327/1327 MP: 317/317 SP: 984/984**

 **STR: 95 SPD: 7 ACC: 6 INT: 5**

 **WIS: 6 VIT: 29 DEF: 30 DEX: 6**

Titles:

II – The title held by the second strongest player in Sword Art Online. Through your unbreaking will and terrifying strength you have earned yourself the second rank. Will you become the right hand of the First or his arch nemesis? The choice is yours, Second.

\+ Right Hand Man (Passive): When fighting in a raid party beside [I], all members gain an additional 2% to all stats.

\+ 10% to the top 3 stats

Skills:

Decisive Strike (Lvl. 12/50) – A powerful attack that can change even the terrain of battle.

-Deal 200 damage in a cone-shaped radius in the direction the player is facing

Cost: 100 SP

Masteries:

Heavy Armor (Lvl. 54/1000) – A player's mastery of heavy armor. (Level up by getting hit, dodging and moving in heavy armor)

Two-Handed Weaponry (Lvl. 52/1000) – A player's mastery of two-handed weapons.

Items:

Sword of the Spirit – Which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:17)

-Wrath of God: A full force frontal attack that comes from the built up righteous anger of the wielder.

-Deal 500 damage, deal an additional 1 damage for every HP a nearby ally has lost.

Cost: All remaining SP

Cooldown: 1 Week

Acquired: [Armor of God] quest reward

Type: Two-Handed

Damage: 250

Value: 0*

Helmet of Salvation – Strengthened with hope and belief, a shining beacon for the allied forces.

-All members in your party gain 50 HP, MP and SP.

Acquired: [Armor of God] quest reward

Type: Heavy Armor

Armor:

Value: 0*

Armor of Righteousness – Fashioned against the powers of the dark world, aiding the wearer to stand for the weaker people.

-Heroic Entrance: Must be wearing full armor set. Whenever a party member falls below 10% HP, designate the ally's location as your landing spot, channel for 1.25 seconds, and then dash to them. Upon impact, deal 150 damage to all enemies.

Cost: 100 SP

Cooldown: 3 Minutes

-Allies gain +10% health regeneration and take reduced 20% damage when the wearer of the [Armor of Righteousness] has the most aggro.

Acquired: [Armor of God] quest reward

Type: Heavy Armor

Armor: 167

Value: 0*

Belt of Truth – Buckled around a trustworthy man who backs up his words with actions.

\+ 75% resistance to illusion magic

Acquired: [Armor of God] quest reward

Type: Belt

Armor: 0

Value: 0*

Boots of Preparation – Fitted with readiness. (Ephesians 6:14)

-Successful attacks return back 20% of its SP cost

Acquired: [Armor of God] quest reward

Type: Heavy Armor

Armor: 67

Value: 0*

* * *

 **Calculations**

 **HP Growth/LVL: 4.59% VIT Boost: 2.5% per point over 5**

 **MP Growth/LVL: 1% INT Boost: 5% per point over 5**

 **SP Growth/LVL: 25 DEF Boost: 2% per point over 5**

 **Armor: Base Rating + ½ Mastery Lvl.**

 **At LVL 1, all players start with 250 HP, MP, SP**

 **Author's Note: Not sure how many of you stuck around and read the entire thing, but if you have I once again ask that you give me your feedback on anything that you might have to comment on (whether it be balancing the stats, skills, distribution of stat points). Also, I plan to edit this "chapter" to include all of the significant characters, but for now, the ones that I haven't included are still WIP (work in progress). I just wanted to put this out and see the feedback I get from the readers so that I can make the proper adjustment or proceed with the current setup. Thank for reading and look forward to the next chapter "Tongue of Silver"!**


	17. Tongue of Silver

**Chapter 15 – Tongue of Silver**

 _November 12, 2022 - Aegean Sea, Athens, Floor 2_

"C'mon, move it! We gotta get these materials in as soon as possible! There's no telling when the Sparta group will come back; we have to get these wings ready!" yelled Klein as he directed the collection group.

They were on the coastline facing the Aegean Sea, where the large [Flesh-Eating Pelicans] nested on the ancient sea stacks. It was a beautiful natural wonder that would have befitted a 5-star resort back in the real world. The formation of the cliffs has been molded by centuries of waves crashing in and pulling back. The elusive emerald aqua sea water calling out to them every single second. But for the adventurers, it was more of a hell than a resort, as they battled giant ugly bird monsters day after day without rest.

"You're quite the slave driver," said Agil as he walked up to him.

"I see you're doing okay," said Klein as he gave him a pat on the arm. "Heard something happened on your trip to Mount Lycabettus."

"I managed somehow."

"Agil, please save us!" yelled one of the men.

"We're trying to get this done quickly, but, you know, you can give the guys a break or two," said Agil as he smiled.

"We don't have the luxury of taking it easy when Kirito's group is risking life and limb in Sparta."

"Hmm, the girls that I passed by a few seconds ago seemed to be taking it easy."

"Klein plays favorites with the girls!" said one of the male players.

"Yeah! Unfair treatment of genders! We demand equality!" added another one.

"Shut up and get back to work!" Agil raised one of his eyebrows slightly. "Alright, I get it, I get it. Geez, is that why you came here? To scold me for the job?"

"Of course not, I wanted to check in on my friend. See how you were doing."

"Not great," said Klein as he sighed and lowered his voice. "Not all the players assigned here showed up."

"How many?"

Klein paused. "More than half."

"That bad huh?"

"Kirito holds the reigns to the players but his influence only reaches so far. The rest of us don't have as much control as he does." He shook his head. "Do you really think it was a good idea for him to go to Sparta? I mean, what if we lose control of the player base here?"

"Not everyone is going to follow orders, we can't expect to control everyone at all times."

"I guess, but it just pisses me off that some of us are working our ass off while others are just fooling around."

"I'll try to get some more players here working for you."

"Thanks. By the way, I've been meaning to ask," said Klein as he pointed to the little girl hiding behind Agil. "Who is that? OH! Don't tell me Agil…you didn't-"

"No!" said Agil before Klein could finish his sentence. "We're in a virtual world, how would that even work?"

"I'm just messing with you," said Klein as he laughed.

"What is he talking about, mister Agil?" asked the little girl.

"Don't worry about it, sweetheart," said Agil as he picked her up and sat her on his shoulders. "I found her in one of the alleys in the city. She's a quest NPC. Her name's Leona, or at least that's what I call her. She doesn't remember anything, not even her name. So I'm taking her around town to see if she remembers anything or until the Quest Journal updates and tells me what to do."

"What's a quest NPC?" asked Leona curiously.

Agil laughed a little. "Don't worry about that either."

"Well, lucky you. Event quests like these are usually pretty awesome." He sighed. "The only thing I got from killing these things is a lame title. Hell, it doesn't even make sense! Why is it called [The Brow]?" Agil simply chuckled at the ridiculous title name. "Well anyways, good luck to you sir. I'm just going to go back to hunting these ugly-ass birds for their feathers. Keep me updated, yeah?"

"For sure." Once Klein walked away, Agil asked Leona, "So remember anything?" Which she responded with a shake of her head. "Alright then, onto the next spot."

* * *

The pair visited every part of the city of Athens but at the end of the day, the little girl's past still remained a mystery. Tired and discouraged, Agil sat down on a stone bench near the market place. "It's okay, we'll try again tomorrow. There are still plenty more places we can check."

"Why are you trying so hard to help me, mister Agil?" asked Leona.

"Well, it just doesn't seem right to leave a little girl to fend for herself." He looked up at the sky and there was an air of sadness that he didn't show to any of the other players before. "You know…" he said finally breaking the silence, "my wife, Kathy and I always wanted a daughter. A cute little girl just like you."

"Can I meet her?" asked the innocent and naïve little girl.

"N-No," responded Agil, all of a sudden finding it hard to keep his voice steady. "She…she's someplace where I can't reach right now."

"Is she as nice as you?"

"Yes, she is much, much nicer and kinder. Beautiful…and radiant. The only light during my dark times." Tears began to flow down his cheeks as he covered his face with his hand.

"Did I do something wrong? Why are you sad?"

"No, no you didn't do anything wrong, sweetheart. I just miss her very much."

"I'm sure you'll be able to see her again one day."

"Thank you," said Agil as he patted the little girl's head.

The sun began to set over the city of Athens and Agil decided that since he wasn't been able to find anyone related to the little girl, he would just house her until he finds a clue. After checking in at the inn and buying some dinner for the two of them, he wanted to check back with Daedalus to see if any progress was made on the beast he spotted on Mount Lycabettus.

"You're leaving me?" asked the little girl in her small voice full of worry and fear.

"No, sweetheart. I'm just going to talk to a friend about something, I'll be back soon," he said as he spotted a couple of players he recognized. "These girls will take care of you for now."

"Hey, do you girls mind watching over her for a little? I gotta go talk to Daedalus about something."

"Oh my goodness, yes! She's so cute!" the girls squealed.

"Be a good girl, okay?" said Agil as he patted the little girl on the head one last time before heading out.

* * *

When he got into Daedalus' workspace, it was a complete mess. The scholar was scrambling around with research papers and weird inventions scattered everywhere, a scene that seemed straight out of a mad scientist movie. "Daedalus, you doing okay?"

"Ah Agil, yes, yes, I'm just looking for the design of the wings I'm going to make for you guys. It must be here somewhere…" he responded as he pulled out an old notebook covered in dust. "There it is! Age is really starting to catch up to me. How may I help you?"

"I was just wondering if you made any progress on the beast investigation on Mount Lycabettus. If it was cleared, then I'm planning on finishing that material run I didn't get to finish."

"I did send some our men up there to investigate, however, we were unable to find the beast you speak of."

"Impossible! That thing was absolutely huge, and loud. Did you see the wreckage that it caused in the forest?"

"Yes, but getting proof and catching the culprit are two different things. We will continue our search and I'll be sure to inform you once we make progress."

"Alright," said Agil, but as he was about to walk out something else popped into his mind. "Oh by the way, do you know any family that has recently lost a little girl? I found one yesterday night in an alleyway in the residential district. She says she doesn't remember anything so I've been taking her around the city but I haven't been able to find any of her relatives."

"A little girl you say? What does she look like?"

"A dark-skinned girl with long golden hair, around the age of seven or eight."

"Hmm, orphans and abandoned children are not the most uncommon thing in Athens regrettably. Where would you two be staying at right now? If you want, I could clear a room somewhere in here."

"No that's fine. We're staying at the inn, I was planning to take care of her until I find her parents or someone who can."

"You're a good man, Agil. If I hear of anything, I'll point them in your direction."

"Thank you."

* * *

"How's he doing?" Merlin asked as one of the nurses walked out of the infirmary.

"He's making a healthy recovery, he should be good to go after tonight's rest."

"Okay, good," said Merin as she smiled to herself.

"Were you planning on visiting him right now?"

Merlin thought about for a little. "No, I just wanted to check up on how he's doing. Thank you for taking care of him." Merlin bowed slightly and walked away. But down the hallway, stood another who lingered for a while longer. He waited for the nurse to also disappear out of sight before making his way into the infirmary.

It didn't take long for Mordred to spot Mukuro, who was lying there sleeping. They were alone, just the two of them; nobody close to hear or see what he would do. He approached him slowly and quietly as he made his way to his bedside. He then carefully reached out towards Mukuro's bandaged back. But as soon as his hand made contact Mukuro instantly woke up and got a grip of his hand.

"Mordred," said Mukuro as he smiled.

"Mukuro," responded Mordred calmly.

"I wasn't expecting you to visit me," said Mukuro, still with a firm grip on his wrist.

"That's what friends do," Mordred responded without missing a beat as he tried to tug his hand away.

"Is that what we are?" asked Mukuro as he held on.

Mordred paused for a second before answering dryly. "Of course."

"Good," said Mukuro as he let go of his wrist, leaving a pale handprint behind as the circulation flowed back. "I really do want to become good friends with you…as fellow mages."

Mordred smiled, if he was going to play games then he would too. Malice was definitively there but a confrontation between two men of thinking was a bit too soon. A battle of words and a game of manipulation was right up his alley. "Friends with the savior of the Professor, what an honor."

Mukuro looked around the room. "Don't worry, there's nobody around," answered Mordred as he stared at Mukuro.

Mukuro simply smiled again, his eyes betraying nothing. "As you can see, I'm doing quite well."

"Are you?"

"I am," said Mukuro as he sat up in his bed.

"I…recently was able to learn a couple of new spells."

"Good for you," said Mukuro, the subtle threats not having any effect on him. There was a moment of silence between the two of them as they calculated their next moves. "Was there something else you wanted?"

"Just wanted to see that scar that everyone is talking about, that's all."

"The nurse told me not to take the bandages off. Instead how about showing off those new spells you have?"

"I don't think that's a good idea, they are still quite unstable. Something might go wrong."

"I trust you."

"Very well," said Mordred after a brief moment of consideration. He brought his hands together and a ball of magic quickly materialized between them. The blue light from the arcane forces illuminated the room and cast large shadows all over.

"Amazing…" said Mukuro genuinely as he looked at Mordred's creation.

"Would you like a closer look?" asked Mordred as he took a step closer to Mukuro, still no reaction as Mukuro looked him dead in the eye and stared back. "What are you hid-"

Before he could finish his question a loud explosion was heard on the other side of the palace. Screams were heard and footsteps echoed down the hallway outside. "Better go," said Mukuro as he continued to smile. Mordred bit down on his lip as he released the magic in his hands and walked out of the infirmary. He had lost this round. He had the advantage coming in but a twist of luck had saved his opponent. ' _I'll get him next time._

The moment Mordred exited the room, he bumped straight into Merlin. "Mordred! What was that?" she asked.

"I'm not sure."

The explosion was heard by everyone; citizens, soldiers, and players alike causing panic to be spread among the streets of Athens. Soldiers scrambled around the halls, some tasked with eliminating the threat and some tasked with keeping the citizens calm. "What's going on?" asked Merlin as one of the hoplites ran by.

"We've been attacked!"

* * *

"What happened?!" Theseus asked one of the guards.

"A beast attacked Hadrian's Library!"

"My uncle?!"

"We…haven't been able to find him yet."

"Then gather all the men, notify all the adventurers, and get over there!"

"Yes, sir!"

Theseus wasn't going to wait for the reinforcements to assemble, he didn't even bother to go and put on his armor as he bolted towards his uncle's working quarters. But the moment he got there, he wished he did. The library was already half in ruin; strong stone pillars that have stood for centuries against the elements, laid crumbled on the ground. Yet it wasn't the destruction that made him question himself for the first time, but the monster that roamed within the smoke of the debris. A beast with the body of a lion, wings of an eagle, and a snake for a tail.

"M-my prince," cried a weak voice. Theseus looked towards the source and found a heavily injured soldier trapped underneath a pillar.

"Hang in there," whispered Theseus as he made his way next to the injured. He put his hands under the pillar and began to slowly lift it off of the pinned man. However, the movement of the pillar caused the small pebbles on top of it to fall, making a clacking noise as it hit the floor. Theseus paused as he checked to see if it had attracted the attention of the monster nearby. There was a moment of silence as both Theseus and the soldier held their breath.

Suddenly, the beast pounced out from the smoke at the speed of wind itself, leaving Theseus no time to draw his weapon. Right before it could take the lives of both Greek men, Agil's shield deflected the monster's strike and redirected it into another pillar. The force of the impact took the shield bearer off of his feet and back onto the hard ground.

"Are you okay?!" asked Theseus.

"Y-yeah," said Agil as he shook off the pain and got up as fast as he could. There was no time to mourn over a broken bone or two. They had bigger problems to deal with, much too literally for their liking.

"Gods help us…" said Theseus as the monster got back up onto its feet. The smoke cleared, revealing a demonic creature with three heads; one of a ferocious lion, one of a black goat, and one of an inferno dragon. The dragon head spat out fire onto the ground, the heat instantly melting the stone tiles beneath it. The lion head roared, causing fear and shaking the hearts of the brave men in front of it, and the goat head screamed as its black breath decayed all that it touched.

"Level 87?!"

The two men looked at each other as they debated their next steps. Do they fight it together, hoping for reinforcements to come as fast as possible? Do they grab the injured soldier and make a run for it? Would reinforcements even matter? Would they be able to get out in time? There were too many questions and too little time as the beast got ready to charge again.

"My prince, get out of here!" yelled the soldier as he made the decision for them. Theseus gave the soldier a look of pure sorrow. He was a prince, but he has always valued and loved his fellow countrymen. And to have to sacrifice one of his own to keep on living…was not something he was willing to do.

"The son of Poseidon does not run!" said Theseus as he drew out his blue xiphos. He feared not death, knowing the gods would not take him a second sooner or a second later than his fated time. "Agil, you are not a child of Athens. I will not ask you to stay and fight."

At that moment, all Agil could think about was his wife and seeing her again. Was risking his life, and risking was putting it nicely, for an NPC worth it? "I'm sorry prince Theseus," he said as he stepped up. "You're position is forcing my hand right now." Emotionally Agil was ready to run, but sadly, at possibly the worst time possible, he was perfectly rational. If Theseus were to die, then who knows what would happen to the war negotiations with Sparta, and how Daedalus would react? And if Daedalus was dead already, then Theseus was the only person left that could get them over the Icarian Sea.

"The gods will reward your courage here today!"

"I sure hope so!"

The unnatural creature began to make its way towards them. Slowly this time, realizing that they were more than just the fodder soldiers it has fought so far. Or were they? "Listen to me. We can't fight it head on. That thing is more than twice my Level, which means it can destroy us easily. The only thing we can do is lead it away from the injured warrior for as long as possible, and hope that the reinforcements would scare it off," said Theseus.

"Scare it off…? I don't think that thing is scared of anything."

"Or dissuade it…hopefully…"

The two of them made their stance, but it only took one roar from the beast to end the fight. ' _I'm stunned?_ ' thought Agil as he opened his eyes, he tried to move his body to get up but to no avail. Realizing that the same thing had happened to Theseus, his hope for survival plundered. ' _I'm sorry Kathy…_ '

They waited, but the awaited slash through the body or bite of the head never happened. Instead, the giant beast walked up and began to smell them. For better or for worse, they weren't dead yet. But it was beginning to seem like they were on the menu for the monster's gourmet dinner. ' _I'm not tasty, I'm not tasty, I'm not tasty,_ ' thought Agil repeatedly. Finally, the creature made its choice, and to Agil's misfortune, the lion head picked him off the ground and took off into the air without batting an eye at Theseus.

The paralysis finally wore off, but by then, the monster had already flown off to somewhere far away. "What happened here?!" asked Merlin as she made her way onto the scene.

"I'm sorry…" said Theseus without meeting her eye.

"Spit it out, what the hell happened here?"

"Agil…it took Agil."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry for not updating for a while, I'm been kinda unmotivated lately but working on the character cards has really helped me get my groove back. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter; be sure to leave a review, it really makes my day reading them and keeps me motivated to update sooner!**

 **Behind the Page**

 **-the title [The Brow] is the nickname of Anthony Davis, the New Orleans Pelicans (basketball team) all-star power forward (sorry the basketball nerd inside of me just had to do it)**

 **-you might be wondering, "Why is there a LEVEL 87 BOSS LOOKING MONSTER ON FLOOR 2?! I THOUGHT IT WAS THE MINOTAUR!" And to that I say, "Shh, it's okay. There's a reason for everything."**

 **Response to Reviews**

 **Norsewryter-riider:** **Super, super, super close ;)**

 **Oblivion: *thinking face***

 **Animefan25627: Ayy good to see you here! Hope you have enjoyed the fanfic up to this point!**

 **Sazq: First of all, thank you for leaving such an amazing and detailed review, I truly appreciate it a lot. I have put in a lot of effort into the NPCs since they are such an integral part of an MMORPG game, furthermore, I'm sure Kayaba would have designed them in a way to make the world feel as real and immersive as possible. While this has caused the main cast to take a brief backseat, I've still tried my best to weave in slow and steady development for the main characters. I'm happy you're enjoying the pace of the story, which to be honest, surprises me as well (50k words sure flies by). On the topic of character development, I really like to take a slower approach and sprinkle it here and there through the conversations the characters have with each other. The really big strides in development that you will (someday XD) see will be when the characters are faced with hard challenges. It's not surprising that you've only noticed Kirito since Kirito has been the only one really tested so far, so look forward to more development in the others as the story progresses. All in all, I'm super happy that you gave my work a try and that you are enjoying so far. Your constructive comments do not offend me at all, if anything, it gets me super excited to write for readers that show their care for my work. Once again thank you for leaving that awesome review, and I hope I can continue to earn your support!**


	18. Corinth

**Chapter 16 – Corinth**

 _November 11, 2022 - Outskirts of Corinth, Floor 2_

"Are you sure it's a good idea to leave the carriage out here…?" asked Asuna, they had parked it just outside the city in the forest and out of view.

"It's fine, at least one of us will always be stationed here to watch over it. I rather not give news that we are this close to Sparta already, this way we can train for a bit in peace," stated Kirito as he turned to the rest of the group for instructions. "Robin, you'll take watch of the carriage. With your [Hawk Eye] and [Eagle Vision] skill you should be able to hunt monsters within this area," said Kirito as he addressed their ranger.

"Got it."

"We have roughly four days to grind quests, make use of it. Remember to prioritize leveling up your skills and to familiarize yourself with them. Since Jax has the most ground to cover as he'll be the one fighting in Sparta, he'll be solo and the rest of us will be in parties of twos. Jax just remember to stay saf-" He turned to find Jax but he was nowhere to be found, the moment Jax heard the word 'solo,' he had already run off by himself.

"Don't worry, he'll fine. He used to be a solo player anyway before we met," reassured Irelia. "Anyway, how about me and you, Kirito? Haven't gotten a chance to party with you yet."

"Sure, let's go check out the palace first, we might be able to find some unique quests that'll give much more experience than regular Kill or Collect ones."

"Sounds good."

Asuna looked out of the corner of her eye as she watched the two of them head out towards the city and sighed to herself. ' _Should have asked earlier._ '

"You okay?" asked Arthur, seeing his partner's spirit suddenly deflated.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, don't worry about it," said Asuna quickly.

"Ah, would you look at that? Prince Charming walked away with another princess," commented Robin as he laid down on the top of the carriage for a nap.

"W-What are you talking about!?"

"Oh, are you and Kirito…" said Arthur before being interrupted by the chestnut-haired girl.

"No, no, we're not like that! We're just friends…"

"Wow, I've never heard of a girl being friend zoned before," said Robin, enjoying the reaction he was getting from the girl, maybe a little too much.

"I-I'm not getting friend zoned!" said the now red-faced Asuna. "Forget it! Let's get out of here!" Arthur didn't argue or in fact say anything at all, it felt dangerous to risk pushing the girl further.

As the two of them left, Robin smiled to himself, breathed in a breath of fresh air, and relaxed. "Ah, finally…peace and quiet."

* * *

The moment they stepped foot into the city, a game message popped up in front of them. ' _Floor 3 – Corinth._ '

"Interesting…" said Irelia. "I guess your theory was correct."

"Yeah," said Kirito, "the moment Daedalus handed us the map I thought this space was way too big to be a single Floor. To be fair, Kayaba never did say that all the Floors were stacked neatly one atop another."

"Does that mean the Minotaur is going to be the only Floor Boss for this set of Floors?"

"I'm not sure, but knowing Kayaba, he isn't stacking multiple Floors together for no reason. Maybe, the quest we are doing right now to get to the Minotaur will ultimately have us face off against the same number of bosses." Kirito clicked his tongue. "It kinda frustrates me that we are playing the exact way he planned it."

"We'll that isn't really hard if you're the game developer. I wouldn't let it bother you."

"I guess…"

The city of Corinth was not as big as Athens but was still quite the tour. As soon as Kirito and Irelia walked into the residential quarters, they heard cheers and music echo from within. The citizens all seemed to be in high spirit as they celebrated in the streets with dancing and hugging. "Quite the festival," said Irelia as the two of them tried to squeeze past the crowd. "Wonder what it's about."

"Yeah, me too," said Kirito as he looked around. There weren't any decorations hanging, nor was it the change of a season so it was quite the mystery as to why everybody was so happy. "Maybe it's the king's birthday."

"Does that mean he'll be in high spirits when receiving us?"

"Hopefully," said Kirito as he laughed. "For once, I hope we arrive at a place where all the problems are already solved."

"The day all our problems are solved is the day you're out of a job," Irelia joked.

"Wouldn't that be day to celebrate…"

The palace was magnificent and met that certain Greek standard that they've come to expect but seemed diminished compared to the architectural wonders back in Athens. Perhaps they were so accustomed to the best that they would never again be able to appreciate the good. The two were about to request an audience with the king but before they even opened their mouth the servants ushered them in. They immediately found out why they were given that treatment as soon as they walked into the courtroom, it was a party with the room packed full with nobles, council members, and aristocrats. The courtroom was fairly simple in terms of décor, with a few stone statues of the king and his predecessors. The walls had the classic Greek stone carvings along with a giant painting that featured a fight between angelic and demonic figures.

"We must have been mistaken for party guests," said Kirito as he surveyed the room.

"We could just roll with it," said Irelia. But as soon as she finished the sentence, they caught one of the noblemen's attention.

"Who are you? I've never seen you two before."

"Well, there goes our five seconds of royalty," whispered Kirito.

"Guards! Get these two out of here!"

"What's all this noise?" asked who they suppose was the king, based on his clothing and crown.

"My king, these people have snuck in here with unknown intentions."

"Well, that's one way to put it," said Irelia as she scoffed at the clear negative portrayal.

"How would you put it then?" asked the king.

"We are adventurers," said Kirito as he cut in. "We were going to request an audience with the king before we were ushered in by mistake."

"Then welcome travelers! I am King Sisyphus, strong and wise ruler of Corinth! What can I do for you today?"

"We were simply wondering if there was anything we could do to help around here," said Kirito as he gave the noblemen that sold them out a fake smile. He never did appreciate how useful a fake smile was until he became commander, such a useful tool in the game of politics.

"An honorable goal! Diogenes, I believe our guests here are owed an apology for your earlier treatment of them."

"There is no need to go so far, your grace," said Kirito.

King Sisyphus laughed heartily. "Very well! Then at the very least let me invite you to partake the feast we are having now, please enjoy yourselves. As for your thirst for adventures, let us take care of that after we take care of our hunger for festivities!"

"I thought you said we needed to make the most out of these four days," said Irelia as the party resumed.

"Well we can't just refuse a king's invitation in his own court…" whispered Kirito. "Your grace, if I may ask, what are the Corinthians celebrating today?"

"Ah, good question! We are celebrating the end of a great drought, the river god Asopus has blessed us with a new freshwater spring!"

"No wonder the citizens are in such high spirit today."

"The drought has been tough on them, I'm happy that they are happy once again."

"He seems like a good king that genuinely cares about his subjects," said Kirito as he made his way back beside Irelia.

"So, I guess our first day is going to be spent partying?"

"Sorry, it was my idea to come to the palace."

"Despite your good track record, you couldn't have predicted this," said Irelia as she grabbed a plate of food and made herself comfortable on one of the giant cushions. "Sit, you deserve some rest." Kirito sighed, there wasn't anything much better to do so he accepted the offer. Even after beating Illfang, it was more work straight after. Now that he stopped to think about it, the only break he took was when he went on that shopping trip with Asuna.

"So Mr. Kirito," said Irelia as she popped a grape into her mouth and smiled cunningly, "mind sharing what's going on between you and Asuna?"

"W-What?" stuttered Kirito as the question caught him completely off-guard.

"C'mon, don't play dumb with me. We got nothing better to do, so why not do some sharing?"

"There's nothing to share," said Kirito as he looked away to try and shake off the blush. "We're just friends, right now."

"But you want to be more, right?" asked Irelia straight away.

"M-maybe, why?" Irelia giggled slightly. "What's so funny?"

"I don't know, this kind of talk just seems like the kind I used to have at school."

"You were in a pretty weird school then," said Kirito as he looked around.

"You should have asked her to partner up then."

"I would of if you didn't interfere," said Kirito as narrowed his eyes.

"It's no fun if everybody is just constantly pushing you guys together. You gotta have a villain sometimes to spice things up."

"I think things are already spiced up enough with the whole death game thing going on. Anyway…" said Kirito, now determined to change out of the uncomfortable subject, "what about you and Jax, you two seem pretty close too."

"Hmm, I don't know. He's kind of a dimwit," said Irelia as she laughed. "I don't even think he knows what love is."

"He is quite the character…"

"Yeah…he really is."

* * *

"Geez, Robin just has a talent for pissing people off," said Asuna as she walked angrily down the road.

Arthur thought about it and found it safe enough to comment now. "I'm sure he's just teasing, I'm not that good at picking on that love stuff but he seems to have opened up a lot compared to before when he didn't even talk to anyone."

"I liked him a lot better when he just stood there silently," said Asuna as she pouted.

"So you and Kirito…"

"Oh not you too, Arthur…"

"No, no, don't get me wrong. I think you two complement each other quite well."

Asuna gave him a stare but shyly said, "Thank you…"

"He has been an amazing leader so far, has shown far more maturity and girth than even most of the adults."

"He was like that when he was the leader of our party, I guess since he became the commander, he's taken on all of the lives of the player base on his shoulder." She paused for a moment. "Sometimes I wished he didn't have to carry it alone…"

"We can try to help him as much as we can…but at the end of the day, it's still up to him to make the decisions."

"We all thought you would take up the mantle of the commander when we first saw you," said Asuna as she laughed. "You look and fit the part almost perfectly."

"I'm happy you have such high regards for me, but I'm sorry to say that I've never been a good leader figure," said Arthur as he got quiet. "Even the few lives that were…"

"Oh my God," interrupted Asuna as she ran forward.

"Go spread your false religion somewhere else, you lunatic!" yelled one of the priests as he kicked an old man down the stairs of the temple. "Don't you dare come back again!"

"Are you okay?" asked Asuna as she kneeled down beside the injured old man.

"What happened?" asked Arthur as he made his way beside the two of them.

"Please…I need your help…the gates of Hades…are opened…"

"Slow down, you're okay. Here drink this," said Arthur as he handed the old man a healing potion.

"Thank you," said the old man as he sat up, "but there is no time to rest. The gates of Hades remains opened and the longer it stays that way, the more danger we are all in."

[Quest Started: Armor of God]

The two players looked at each other, "Let's do it. Kirito did say that we should look for special event quests that give better rewards."

"Alright," said Asuna as she turned back to the old man. "So you said the gates of Hades were open?"

"Yes," said the old man as he stood back up. "I was trying to warn the priests in the temple but they wouldn't listen to me."

"What was that about spreading a false religion?" asked Arthur.

"The truth is hard for some to accept, but their eyes will be opened one day. I am the Apostle Paul, and I have been given the task to close the gates of Hades before chaos spreads further."

"Will we be enough, shouldn't we get Kirito and the others to join in on this as well?"

"There is no need, for my Lord said, 'Where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.' As long as He is with us, there is nothing to fear." The two adventurers didn't seem very convinced but Paul had already begun leading them somewhere so there wasn't any room for disagreements. The priest led the two of them to a collapsed crypt on the outskirts of the city, a dark and eerie place with a strong stench of death. The stone pillars supporting the burial place had been destroyed by something big along with many of the caskets that once contained the smell of the dead. "We must hurry, many foul beasts have already escaped."

The three ducked into the destroyed ruin and began to slowly make their way deeper into the crypt. "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path," said Paul as a ball of light appeared in front of them to guide them in the darkness. "Come, follow closely."

Dust leaked out of the cracks in the stones as the very structure of the crypt threatened to collapse on itself at any second. The howl of the wind through its dark corridor was like a silent scream of the dead, sending a cold chill down their necks. "We're here," said Paul as he stopped in front of a pile of boulders. A black mist flowed from beyond the obstacle, and a sinister presence could be felt. "Please put on this armor."

A couple of items popped into the players' inventories, and they equipped it. It was a full suit of old and rusted iron armor; heavy, clunky, and worst of all with an armor rating of 0. "What is this?" asked Arthur as he struggled to walk.

"These will protect you."

"No offense, but our armor is much better."

"The black mist clouds your vision, you are wearing the Armor of God. No other gear could compare." Asuna and Arthur exchanged a look, every ounce of their being regretting their decision. "From here on out, it will just be the two of you. I will open the way, and you two will go and close the gates of Hades," said Paul as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

"Why can't you come with us…" asked Asuna.

"After I move the boulders, I need to make sure the crypt doesn't collapse on itself."

"What does the gate look like and how do we close it?" asked Arthur.

"The Lord will guide you."

"Argh this quest sucks so much…" said Asuna, truthfully feeling a bit scared.

"I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you," said Paul, not making either of the adventurers confident whatsoever. "I can do all this through him who gives me strength!" As he uttered those words, the boulders began to lift themselves up and created a small passage for the two players.

"It's too late to back out now. Let's just get this over with," said Arthur as he took the first steps forward with Asuna reluctantly following behind him. But as soon as the two of them crossed, the entrance behind that was sealed shut again by the boulders. "Paul! Paul!" No answer came. "Well…shit."

* * *

The party lasted much longer than they thought, as the last of the drunken guests finally filtered out at midnight. "Finally, wake up Kirito, the party's done," said Irelia as she got up from her comfy seat and shook Kirito awake.

"My apologies for the long wait, us Greeks do like to celebrate," said King Sisyphus. "You adventurers said that you are here to help, correct?"

"Yes," said Kirito, still slightly sleepy, "if there's anything we could do. Like maybe slay a special monster, or retrieve a legendary sword, we'd be happy to help."

The king laughed, "I do not have such grandiose tasks for you, but I do have a big problem on my hands that needs to be solved."

[Quest Started: Sisyphean Task]

"As I said, we're happy to help."

"Good, good," the king said as he grabbed a golden goblet and two cups. "You see, to end this terrible drought that had plagued Corinth, I had to make a deal with the river god Asopus. He came to me looking for his daughter whom I had seen Zeus take away. So I made him a deal, a fresh source of water for the location of his daughter." As he spoke he poured out two cups of red liquid and offered it to them. "Zeus, however, wasn't so pleased that I told Asopus what he had done."

"I see…your grace, you wouldn't be thinking about killing Zeus, right?" asked Kirito.

"No, no, of course not," said King Sisyphus as he smiled. "I'll tell you, but first drink. We have a long talk ahead of us." Kirito nodded and took a sip of the wine. A high [Detection] skill is useful in many ways; spotting traps, uncovering tracks, seeing weaknesses, and detecting poison. Sadly, Kirito's [Detection] skill was not high enough to realize it sooner but was high enough for him to knock the cup out of Irelia's hand as soon as he took the sip.

"Run, Irelia!" yelled Kirito as he tried to draw his sword but suddenly lost his sense of balance.

"Guards, seize her!" yelled the king. Irelia wasn't certain what was going on but her instincts were able to take over for her. Her first thought was to fight, but with Kirito incapacitated and the whole royal guard closing on her, that wasn't an option. So she followed her commander's order and bolted for the exit. Two guards blocked the exit but the speed of her [Blade Surge] skill took both by surprise as she slashed both their throats in quick succession and escaped.

"Impressive," said King Sisyphus as he stood over Kirito. "How did you know the drinks were poisoned?"

"The system doesn't let minors drink, so I knew whatever I had wasn't wine," said Kirito as he struggled to breathe. ' _The poison must be in my respiratory system as well._ '

"Hmm interesting…" said the king as he motioned to the guards. "Take him, and throw him into a cell. Catch the girl as well."

"Yes, my king!" said the soldiers as they dragged Kirito up on his feet.

"What are you going to do with me?" asked Kirito.

"You'll see," said Sisyphus as he smiled, this time the smile seemed so much more devilish than before. The toll of the poison then finally kicked in, knocking Kirito unconscious.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Thank you for reading and I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! As a disclaimer, I am by no way trying to offend anyone by using people and gods from different religions. I hope you guys all understand that it's for entertainment purposes and that it's all in good faith (no pun intended). Tell me if you guys think the multiple storylines are too confusing to handle or if there's anything I can improve on, all reviews are greatly appreciated!**

 **Behind the Page**

 **-wanted to include some dialogues to kinda bring the seriousness down a notch for a few seconds to really show that these are still just high school students/young adults**

 **-if any of you guys were familiar with Greek mythology, then the King Sisyphus thing probably didn't surprise you much XD**

 **-I know that the Apostle Paul never lived in Corinth but I really wanted to get this quest in and I thought it fit well with the King Sisyphus quest as well**

 **-for those who are curious, quotes from Paul are taken from the Bible:**

 **-** **Where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them (Mathew 18:20).**

 **\- Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path (Psalm 119:105).**

 **\- I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you (Luke 10:19).**

 **\- I can do all this through him who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13).**

 **Response to Reviews**

 **SwankySamurai: Thanks for the review, and I'm happy you're enjoying the fact that Agil is playing a bigger role in the story. I've always considered Agil to be the most rational player in player base, as can be seen in the canon when he defended the beta testers and helped bridge the mid-tier players to the high-tier players with his shop. So I always felt he deserved more screen time than he got in the anime, and that is exactly what I'm doing here with the overhaul.**

 **Sazq: Thank you again for taking time out of your day to leave an encouraging review! Also, thanks for the suggestions, the grammar fix is there and I've added a brief scene where Merlin hears about the attack. It's awesome that you're enjoying the Ancient Greek angle and to answer your question, yes. I'm really excited to theme each Floor or each set of Floors, to create bigger and more intricate storylines. So instead of the repetitive event of just finding and beating a Floor Boss each Floor, you guys will be getting huge story arcs! Finally, I'm super happy that you can appreciate the Merlin/Mordred subplot, these characters are going to have a huge impact later on in the story and for now, I'm just subtly building it up XD Overall, thank you again for leaving a comment and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!**


	19. Death at the Door

**Chapter 17 – Death at the Door**

The cell was small, as wide as Kirito was tall when he stretched his hands above his head and had nothing but moss and mice from the lack of care. The smell of the place would have made his eyes water if he still had his senses intact. His vision was a blur, breathing was as hard as ever, and the only sounds that registered were the small cries of his tiny fellow cellmates and the sound of chain links clanking against the stone walls. The place was dark, a seemingly recurring theme every time his life was in danger. And cold, whether that was actually the case or an effect of the poison, he did not know.

He was fairly certain Irelia got out, her speed was matched only by Asuna, mere palace guards would not catch her if she was careful. ' _Hopefully, by now she would have reached the rest of them, and then they would have to…_ ' His headache made it impossible for him to think, however basic the thought was, much less the complications of his possible prison break.

A torch passed by his cell, followed by the fiddling of keys until finally, the door of his cell opened. The cloaked figure drew closer and put something against his mouth; he didn't bother struggling, knowing he didn't have the strength to do so. "Drink," said the unknown figure. "You should have left when you had the chance."

"Who are you?" asked Kirito, his vision, and mind not where it needed to be to distinguish the facial feature of his helper.

"I am Diogenes, I tried to get you two thrown out before Sisyphus could get his hands on you."

"Shit," said Kirito as he remembered the scene when he entered the palace.

"Not so smug now, are you?"

"Can you help me?"

"Only with what I have here," said Diogenes as he took out some food and a small bottle of red liquid. "The antidote. No man deserves to suffer before their death, nor to die with an empty stomach."

"Can you free me from this pit?"

"I could. But will I?" said Diogenes as he paused for a moment and looked back towards the cell's entrance. "No."

"I hate you," said Kirito as he laughed a little to himself, perhaps a little out of self-pity.

"I'm no hero like you adventurer. I have not many things I care about in this world, but among them are my two boys. Who will take care of them when you get caught and I get sentenced for treachery? Who will protect them when the soldiers get ordered to kill all who know and are precious to me? What would you do, hero?"

"One can hate his circumstance."

"Tonight, Sisyphus comes to sacrifice you to Zeus. I will pray for you a quick, painless death," said Diogenes as he got up and left.

"Why not, King Sisyphus?" asked Kirito before the man left.

"He is no king of mine. Just a man that sits on a throne."

* * *

"These guys sure are persistent," said Irelia as she looked back to the soldiers that were still chasing her. But by now she had escaped far enough into the forest and has gotten in range.

"By the order of King Sisyphus, stop right there!"

Irelia did as she was told. "You got me," she said as she put her hands up.

"Restrain her," commanded one of the soldiers, but before they were able to take a single step forward, a blur of blue descended from above and took out five men in one fell swoop. By the time the rest of them realized what was happening, they were nailed one after another by arrows that seemingly came out of nowhere.

"What's going on? Why were they chasing you?" asked Jax, once the threat was dealt with.

"And where's the commander?" asked Robin as he came down from one of the trees.

"The king of Corinth has him, we need to go save him," said Irelia. "Where are Arthur and Asuna?"

"They still haven't come back yet," said Robin.

"Well we got no time to waste waiting for them," said Irelia as she turned back towards the city. "We'll just do it the three of us."

"Wait up," said Jax as he grabbed her arm.

"Why are we waiting? Every second we waste is one more second Kirito's life is in danger."

"Calm down, I'm not saying we don't go rescue him. But rushing in there without a plan isn't going to do any of us any good. Especially when we don't even have Asuna and Arthur with us."

"What's the plan then?" asked Robin.

Jax paused and thought about it for a moment, "I got something in mind."

* * *

The stone corridor seemed to stretch on and on without end as the two players continued down the path in search of the gate of Hades. The way they came from was still blocked by boulders too large for either of them to move, trapping them in an endless search for something they were beginning to doubt was even there. No light was down there with them, except for the small amount that was emitting from their armor. A light so dim that they could barely see what was in front of them.

"Well…if we die, at least we'd already be buried," said Asuna jokingly.

"Let's just try to find the gate for now. Once we close it, we might be able to escape."

"Assuming there really is a gate, and that we didn't just get our lives scammed."

"Positive thinking, positive thinking…"

"Does this corridor ever end? I swear we've been walking for a while now," said Asuna as she kept walking, but after a long period of silence, she sensed something was wrong. "Arthur…?" The girl turned around to try and find her ally, but the knight was nowhere to be found.

Meanwhile, the same phenomenon also happened to Arthur, who now found himself without a partner. "What kind of witchcraft is this?"

Out of the darkness called out a familiar voice. "You tell me, Arthur."

"Armin?!" The knight turned as fast as he could at the sound of his old friend's voice.

Another familiar voice followed, "That can't be Armin, Arthur. Remember?"

"Lizbeth?! Lizbeth is that you?" Again, he turned around to find nothing but darkness.

"Why, Arthur? Why did you bring us there?" asked the two voices together. "Why couldn't you protect us?"

"I-I'm sorry…I-I didn't know…" His voice quivered, his heart rate quickened, and he felt his body begin to shake out of fear. As the voices got louder, he began to back away, trying to get away from the ghosts that were haunting him. But out came a bloody hand from the ground that grabbed hold of his ankle. A head then began to submerge from the ground as well. Bloodied and scarred, the face of a once beautiful pinked-haired girl, now a horrifying ghoul.

"Why did you kill us?"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Asuna heard the scream far in the darkness and began rushing towards it. She had never seen a hint of fear in Arthur's eyes before, even when they were facing Illfang. So whatever had caused the strong knight to scream in utter terror must be something truly terrifying. The mere thought of something popping out of the shadows was frightening, but the fact that one of her comrades was in danger allowed her to summon up the courage to fight off the creeping imaginary terrors.

"Positive thinking, positive thinking…" said Asuna to herself. She thought back to a conversation she had with Kirito about when he stayed behind to save Klein from the wolves.

" _Were you not afraid?" she asked._

" _Of course I was, I'm human after all," he responded. "But those are the moments where you have to be brave, right?"_

 _She paused and thought about something before asking, "Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?" Kirito smiled at her question._

"That is the only time a man can be brave." Never again will she leave behind a friend in danger. Even without Kirito, who had been the supporting pillar for her this whole time, she was going to save him no matter what it took.

Just as she was about to reach the location of the scream she heard, a voice called out from behind her. "Asuna save me!"

The voice froze her in her track as she turned around. "Kirito?" His black silhouette appearing right in front of her, with what seemed to be another man holding him captive with a knife to his throat.

"One move, one word, and I'm going to kill you," said the man holding Kirito hostage.

The voice also sounded familiar, "Skrill?"

Kirito's voice called out once more, "Asuna save me!"

"What did I just say?!" A swift motion followed, and Kirito's body fell in front of her.

"Kirito!" She rushed to his side and turned his body face up, only to see a mummified version of his face with a crimson slit on his throat.

"This is all your fault!" said the dead Kirito as he reached out and grabbed her throat. The hold was unyielding as Asuna tried to claw free from it.

' _I can't breathe._ ' Panic gripped her when she saw her HP bar slowly begin to decrease. Black dots began appearing in her vision and began to close in like a dark and narrowing tunnel. It was silent, she couldn't make a single sound. No 'why,' no 'sorry,' not even a 'thank you.' Her heart ached but there was a peace to knowing that she died and paid for not being able to save Kirito. Perhaps she could say what she couldn't say later if there was a later. The blackness finally closed in as her last bit of HP began to fade. The nothingness reminded her of the night sky that Kirito and she had stargazed under so many times.

" _I won't let you die, I promise."_

In an instant, Asuna drew out her rapier and punctured a pressure point on his arm, releasing his grip on her throat. She drew in a big breath of air into her lungs as she got up and smiled. She looked down at the dead body that had once looked like Kirito to her. "The man I love promised me he wouldn't let me die."

* * *

The palace guards searched all throughout the woods for any sign of the escaped girl, but to their surprise, she was at the last place they expected her to be at. Back at the palace, ringing the city's alarm bell. "That should do it," said Irelia as she stopped tolling the bell and turned to Jax. "I hope your plan works."

"When has it not?" he answered, playfully smug.

"You do know we are in life threatening danger, right?"

"When have we not?"

Irelia laughed, he never failed to make her laugh in these moments. His presence has always assured her that all would be okay, every time they were in a situation where they were definitively not okay. "Jax…I"

Before she could finish, he closed the gap between them and shut her mouth off with his hand. The full moon's light shone on the two of them as they stood under the large city bell. They're close friends, but their bodies were definitively closer than just friends. "Tell me after." With that said, the first palace guards made their way onto the scene.

"Alright, alright! Over here!" yelled Jax as he swung his halberd and destroyed one of the statues standing in front of the palace. The guards split off their forces, half continued their mission to catch Irelia and the other half on a new mission to catch the new enemy. The two of them took them on a chase around town, as far away from the palace as possible.

Meanwhile, Robin watched from atop the palace as his comrades lured the guards away. "So far so good." He stepped away from the ledge and took out one of the scrolls Theseus had given them. ' _It was meant to destroy stuff anyways, so no harm no foul._ '

For such a small scroll, the explosion was quite large. The team had hoped that the first scroll wouldn't attract too much attention but after detonating it, the whole city went into panic mode from what seemed like a direct attack on Corinth. The guards chasing the two immediately turned around back to the palace, prioritizing their king's safety over their king's order.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Jax as he jumped in front of them to cut their retreat. His halberd glistened, and his shadow stretched under the moonlight. His playful aura now replaced with that of a predator's. "I didn't say you could stop chasing me."

"Stand down now! This is your first and last warning!"

It was eight on one, not odds you would put money on, much less your life. But Jax did what he has always done, and that was to smile. "Heaven may fall from the sky, and Earth may crumble under our feet." The title [III] appeared above his head as he brought down his halberd onto the ground, shattering the ground beneath it. "But the Third does not run. Hear this and remember, for my name is Jax!"

* * *

The scroll's explosion was heard loud and clear outside the palace but caused what felt like an earthquake inside the palace, its vibrations reaching even the deepest dungeon. Two guards made their way down to Kirito's cell, after all, there aren't many suspects that would openly attack the palace like this. "It's this one, open it up!"

Kirito laid there unmoving as the two guards dragged him up by the shoulder, but he quickly made his move as he drew out one of the guards' sword and used [Rift Walk] to blink out of the cell. As soon as he was out, he closed and locked the cell right behind him. "Looks like my rescue team is here," said Kirito to himself as he stretched briefly; the antidote had worked its magic and he felt better than ever. "Let's try to make this as easy as possible."

The palace dungeon was a maze, and it didn't help that he doesn't remember how he was brought in. Up would always be a good option if he could find a way up. More guards appeared in the corridor, clearly suspicious that the last two haven't come up yet. ' _Maybe if I wait for them to release the locked guards, I could follow them back up to the exit._ ' The plan was half-baked, however, as the new guards made no effort to look for the old ones and began searching for him. He barely managed to avoid them one corridor at a time and finally, when he had nowhere left to run on that floor he decided that going down one floor was better than getting caught.

The lower floor of the dungeon was pitch black with no torches in sight. It also didn't seem to have any cells either and was devoid of life. Not only that, it also seemed unfinished, as it was simply one giant room. ' _Why does this floor even exist?_ ' His thoughts were interrupted as he heard footsteps closing in on the stairs, so he hid deeper into the darkness. ' _If they follow me down, then I should be able to use the darkness to my advantage,_ ' thought Kirito as he prepared for an ambush. But the guards never descended to the lower level, there were muttering at the top of the stairs and when the second explosion sounded the guards decided it was time to leave.

The second one was louder than the first, and it meant his team had already gotten inside the palace. "Good," said Kirito to himself but his heart dropped when he suddenly heard the clanking of chains behind him.

"Sisyphus, you worm! Release me this instant or I will see to it that you remain in Tartarus for all of eternity!" The voice was loud, rough, and croaky. ' _Perhaps an old man?_ ' Kirito thought, but his guess quickly changed when he saw the outline of the being in the shadow. The being was giant, with long black hair and four wings sprouting from its back. Apart from its wings and size, the being's physique resembled that of a human man, with arms, legs, and a torso. "You are not Sisyphus. Name yourself!" Kirito thought about for a moment, maybe now would be a good time to test the saying, ' _The enemy of my enemy is my friend._ '

"Kirito, I'm an adventurer."

"Sisyphus dares make me share a cell with a mortal!?"

"I'm trying to escape right now," Kirito added quickly, "The two explosions you heard were my comrades doing. If you would be willing to help me, I could release you too."

Fire flared out of the being's nostrils and its eyes glowed bright red. "Do not think you can use me, mortal! I am Thanatos, Death itself, the hand of Hades!" The Greek god was now fully visible with its four demonic wings, colossal size, wearing a black chiton.

"Level 244?! What the hell are you doing on the Floor 3?!" exclaimed Kirito, unable to hide his surprise.

"I am not here by choice, mortal! I was tricked by Sisyphus and locked up like a dog!"

"How does that even happen…?"

"Watch your words, worm!"

"Y-Yes, sorry Thanatos sir." Kirito took another look at the personification of death. ' _If I could free him, it'd mark the end of Sisyphus for sure._ '

"How are mere chains holding you?" asked Kirito.

"These are not mere chains, these chains have been forged in the fire of Hades itself and are unbreakable by men or gods!"

"Is there any way I can free you from those?"

"Why would a mortal care to help me? What do you seek to gain from it?"

"It just doesn't seem like a good thing to anyone for Death to be chained up in a dungeon. Plus, consider me a fellow hater of the current king, I did get wrongfully imprisoned after all and now he's probably out there hunting down my friends."

Thanatos considered the proposition, his absence from the underworld will surely cause unprecedented ripple effects to everything in the world. No one would be able to die, no matter how gruesome the injuries suffered. The headless, bloodless, mortally wounded, and disease-torn will continue to walk the earth, racked with pain and begging for release. But most terrible of all, nobody would die from the wars Ares wages…

"Very well, human. There is only one way you can break these chains."

* * *

"Why Arthur? Why Arthur? Why Arthur?" No matter where he ran to, the voices kept following him. The bodies of his dead friends appearing everywhere he goes, endlessly torturing him with his own guilt.

"What do you want from me?!"

"Make it right. Give us justice."

"How?!"

"Blood must have blood. It must."

"I need to take my own life?"

"Yes, do it. Make it right."

The thought was becoming more and more tempting as the knight drew out his greatsword. "Arthur!" called out Asuna as she spotted him, however, her calls were to no avail as her partner didn't seem to be able to hear her. And that was when she saw it, a great gate that stood opened to the abyss. Two black stone doors that left a giant portal, nearly three meters tall, unlocked; a black mist escaped the portal along with a few skeletons that protruded out of the abyssal portal. The dead attempted their escape out of hell but stuck to the gate as if glued down by adhesive.

"Arthur, look we've found the gate. Let's hurry up and close it." Again her voice was unable to reach him. ' _It must be this black mist! It's having some kind of effect on our senses,_ ' thought Asuna as she recalled her recent experience. She immediately attempted to close the gate herself but was unable to do so from a lack of STR stat. Her attempt did not go unnoticed as the skeletons that were stuck to the portal struggled more fiercely than ever with their freedom in jeopardy. More importantly, she seemed to have threatened the freedom of something far more powerful as a giant arm reached out of the gate to try and stop her. Luckily for the chestnut-haired swordswoman, the same adhesive effect of the gate was working on the giant arm as well, with it not being able to extend past a few inches out. But the sealing effect was clearly not as effective as it was against the lower-tier undead as the giant hand slowly clawed its way out of it.

"C'mon Arthur…snap out of it!"

Back in Arthur's own illusionary world, the voices kept on with their demands for his life. "I'm sorry, I never meant for you guys to die…" Tears began rolling down his face as he clutched his sword and fell to his knees.

"Your role is not done yet Arthur!" yelled Asuna, her voice finally breaking through to the distressed knight. "You can let your past define you. Or you can let it refine you. You can let it hold you back. Or you can let it push you forward. You can let it be the thing that keeps you re-living your yesterdays. Or you can let it be the stepping stones for you to build a better tomorrow." The portal's sealing power finally wore off as the giant hand sprung out at them but its strike was parried by the rapier user and its arm knocked back into the portal. "So rise, Arthur!"

Out of the ashes of his guilt, the knight Arthur rose up. Dawning a golden armor that shone brightly in the darkness. He stood tall and powerful as he grabbed the gates of Hades with both hands. "Arthur no, please!" begged the voice of Lizbeth out of the abyss.

Arthur breathed in a deep breath, his exhale turning to white frost as it flowed out of his helmet from his mouth. "I am Second, my time has yet to come." With his last parting words said to his old friend, he roared and slammed the gates shut with all of his strength. The impact sent shockwaves throughout the entire crypt and the loud sound of the closing resonated. The gate soon vanished into thin air along with the black mist that had caused the two so much trouble.

"Wow, Arthur look…" said Asuna as she drew their attention to their new and glowing armor. The rusted and clunky iron armor that Arthur wore had turned into a full suit of epic pure gold holy armor with small wing embroilment on the shoulder pads and helmet. A white banner with a golden cross draped over the front and back. Asuna's armor had also turned into one of a higher class. A silver-white light armor set of gauntlet, breastplate, and boots, with black embroilment. The shoulders were exposed and a white skirt extended below the breastplate. The piece was topped off with a small circlet with small white wings on the sides.

 _Quest Completed: Armor of God_

 _\+ 10565 EXP_

 _\+ 3265 Cor_

 _+Items:_

 _[The Sword of the Spirit]_

 _[The Shield of Faith]_

The two had little time to celebrate as the crypt began collapsing on itself. Right before they were buried alive, Paul's voice called out to them. "One last gift for the two of you." All the stone pillars and boulders above them became unmoving in the air. "Draw out your new weapon, Arthur."

[The Sword of the Spirt] was a steel greatsword with a purple linen grip and a golden inner guard on top of the golden crossguard. Ancient writing was carved into the golden fuller section of the sword and a cross pommel decorated the hilt. "Now clear your path."

"[Decisive Strike]!" The power of his attack was so immense that it blew away all the rubble that was over them and reveal a clear night sky. The moonlight shone in on the two holy knights as they relished the feeling of fresh air and freedom. However, once again, their celebration would be short-lived as a great and loud explosion detonated at the palace of Corinth.

"We should go," said Asuna. Arthur looked back one last time at the pile of rubble where the gates of Hades once stood and moved on ahead with Asuna.

* * *

 ***Author's Note: Happy 4** **th** **of July to all the American readers here! Hope you guys all enjoyed the chapter! I have also updated Character Card Set 1 to include Robin and have made minor tweaks to the stats, check it out for those of you who are interested!**

 **Behind the Page**

 **-some might find it weird that Jax was able to remain so calm when Irelia came back with the news that Kirito was captured, but if you look back, although he is sometimes a goofball, in serious moments like this, Jax has always been extremely tactical and level-headed (in the battle against Illfang, he made the correct call to hold off against the sentinels to keep the momentum of the battle going for them)**

 **-on the other side of things, Arthur's past before the round table meeting is now beginning to get revealed; he's been seemingly perfect (strong, kind, and a teamwork spirit) so far but you can really see the brittle side of him when he completely breaks down from the confrontation of his dark past**

 **-the Tartarus is the deepest, lowest region of Hades, it is said to be as far beneath Hades as the earth was from the heavens; it is a place of punishment, much like Hell in Christianity**

 **-Thanatos looks based on the Thanatos from the game God of War**

 **-Ares is the Greek god of war; in the original myth, Ares was the one that released Thanatos because nobody was dying in the wars he waged (lol)**

 **-Arthur's armor was based off of a Guild Wars Knight Wallpaper**

 **-Asuna's armor was based off of the Sky Valkyrie by *naturaljuice on deviantART**

 **-[The Sword of the Spirit] was based off of the X Holy Sword by ~Sakanami on deviantART**

 **Response to Reviews**

 **Sp1derAp0calypse: Ayy it's good to know that you're back! Also, I'm surprised nobody else mentioned all the LoL stuff considering I've got so much of it in. As you might have guessed, I'm also a huge LoL fan but I've recently quitted :P You got almost all of them but there was one last one you missed, which was Arthur using Garen's [Decisive Strike] (in the battle against Illfang) but apart from the name of the skill being the same, really nothing else is XD I've got a lot of ideas with Kirito's [Rift Walk] skill so that's why I went with it but again, apart from the name of the skill, he doesn't have much to do with Kassadin. As for why his kit doesn't structure more like Master Yi's, I never really pictured Kirito as a high attack speed character (I know the anime paints him that way with the dual-wield skill but I have something else planned for him in this story). All in all, thank you for leaving a review and I hope I continue to earn your support!**

 **Izuna FoxFlames: Thank you very much for the compliment and I'm happy you're liking the story! Thank you for showing support to the Character Cards, I spent a lot of time on it and it warms my heart that a fellow MMORPG enthusiast can appreciate them with me :P As for the Greek myths, I try my best to incorporate the whole thing but in the end it's still my own twist on them (since they are in the world of SAO after all) and also I won't be following them to the T since that might make the story a bit predictable (but mainly because they are so vast that it's hard to keep on top of it all XD).**

 **Sazq: There's no need to apologize :P You're already making my day by leaving a simple, "Interesting chapter". Thank you for the continued support and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **MysticMistress415: The hating of the time skips is a complaint that almost all of us SAO fans have, which is exactly why I wanted to take on this project. Also, even though there's a canon version in Progressive, I still believe there's room to improve on the original plot and game mechanics. Hope you continue to enjoy the series as you have and thank you for the review!**


	20. Berserker

**Chapter 18 – Berserker**

The citizens of Corinth who were in the joyous spirit of celebration just this morning were now filled with fear and anxiety as explosions erupted from the palace and fights broke out in the streets. Not knowing where the attacks were coming from, the majority of them fled away from the danger and into the woods. Arthur struggled as he tried to go against the flow of people that were running away from the palace. "What do you see?" asked Arthur as he looked to Asuna who was hopping from rooftop to rooftop with ease.

"There's a fight between the guards and one of us close by," answered Asuna as she looked towards the palace. ' _The explosion is probably Kirito and Irelia's doing, something must have gone wrong there…'_

"Go check up on the palace, you are much faster than I am! I'll go help out with the fight that's close by."

"Are you sure...?"

"Yes, go make sure that Kirito and Irelia are alright. We'll catch up with you guys there."

"Alright, good luck Arthur." The two of them went their separate ways as Asuna went full speed ahead towards the palace and Arthur broke out of the crowd towards the fight.

* * *

Inside the palace, the guards rushed to the court, where the first explosion happened, as soon as they could to capture the intruders, however, their target was nowhere to be found. "Spread out, they couldn't have gotten far!"

As the guards spread out to search the corners and hiding spots, one guard was drawn in by the beautiful giant painting of a fight between angels and demons that was on the wall. It featured the demons who were climbing up from the fiery pits of hell and the angels who were defending the gates of heaven with their bows and arrows. But something didn't seem right, one of the angels was wearing green…

Before he had a chance to react, the angel in green from the painting turned his bow towards him and nailed him in the head with an arrow. With a loud thump, his body hit the floor and attracted the attention of the rest of the group as they gathered around him. As they analyzed the angle the shot was taken from they were faced with only a painting. Hanging from the ceiling above them, stood Robin with a scroll in his hand. Mana channeled from his hand to the magical artifact as the words on it turned red. He let go of the scroll slowly, allowing it to gently float itself down to the middle of the soldiers.

"What the-" In a split second, the scroll ignited and the men were blown into smithereens.

' _Good, that should buy me some free time_ ,' thought Robin as he let himself down from the ceiling. He quickly looted the soldiers he had just killed and changed into a more blending uniform. ' _Now I just need to find the dungeon._ '

Another platoon of guards soon showed up, "Soldier, what happened here?"

"The magician threw some kind of fire spell at us and it incinerated the rest of my squad, I barely got out alive!"

"Where did the mage go?!"

"He went that way," said Robin as he pointed to a random direction. "Be careful, he has powerful fire spells in his arsenal along with the ability to turn invisible!"

"Alright good work soldier, go get yourself treated."

"Yes, sir!" He smiled to himself as the soldiers foolishly ran past him to chase an imaginary magician. ' _Now I just need someone to point me in the right direction._ ' Right as he thought that, he saw a nobleman walk by. ' _Perfect._ ' He snuck up behind him, grabbed him into a room and immediately closed the door behind them. An inch away from cutting his throat, the nobleman said something that stopped him right in his track.

"Wait, wait! I'm an ally, please don't kill me!"

"I'm listening." Robin lowered his dagger slightly to give the man some breathing room.

"I tried to warn your friends when they first came and I also gave the one that's in the dungeons an antidote when he was poisoned."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"I'll lead you to the dungeons, once we're there, your friend can confirm for you."

Robin thought about it for a bit, "Very well, but know that my blade is close by if you try anything suspicious."

"Fair enough." The two walked out of the room slowly and Robin shadowed him closely, keeping him within his reach. "If we meet anyone you are to act as my bodyguard, refer to me as Master Diogenes and let me do the talking." Robin nodded in agreement.

"But before that, we need to take care of something," said Diogenes as he walked towards the pile of burnt corpses.

"What are you doing?" asked Robin as he held his dagger against Diogenes' back.

"Calm down archer, I'm just cleaning up your careless mess," said Diogenes as he bent down and retrieved the arrow protruding from one of the guard's forehead. "A mage has no need for a bow and arrow. Your story very well may have backfired."

"Thank you, you're quite sharp."

"My wits are the only things that have kept me alive for this long; having neither fortunes nor arm under the rule of a cunning tyrant." Diogenes stopped at a fork of hallways. "Which directions did you point the soldiers towards?" Robin gave a nod to the right. "Unfortunately, you've lead them in the direction of the dungeons."

"What now then?"

Diogenes thought about it for a little. "Tell me, what did you use to break into the palace?"

"These scrolls," said Robin as he took them out of his pouch.

"Good, we can make a good distraction with these."

"But they need to be activated by a person to be effective."

"Ah, does your group not have a mage among you? Something so simple as adding a time lag piece to the scroll's enchantment is beyond you?"

"No need to brag old man."

* * *

The sound of steel clashing against steel resonated through the streets of Corinth as Irelia battled against a squad of twelve hoplites. Although the term running might have been more accurate since she was doing more dodging than actual fighting. While it was good that she was buying time for Robin to rescue Kirito, she didn't have nearly enough combat strength to stop all twelve Greek soldiers here. Despite her high dexterity stat, the hoplite squadron strategically attacked her and continuously cornered her.

' _Maybe if it was Jax…No, even Jax wouldn't be able to handle more than half of dozens…_ ' thought Irelia as she continued her retreat. She did her best to avoid getting hit but against so many opponents it was all but inevitable as a spear grazed her torso. They had greatly underestimated the hoplites. While they had easily taken care of her former pursuers, that was mainly due to their ambush. Fighting these men on even grounds proved to be far more challenging.

She stumbled a little from the hit but regained her composure quickly as another hoplite charged at her with his spear. By side stepping, she managed to barely dodge the attack but she found herself backed up against a wall with the twelve hoplites surrounding her. Dodging and running were no longer options now. So she charged up her sword skill [Blade Surge], ' _With the burst of speed I get, I may be able to break out of this and hopefully take down one of them in the process._ '

But before she was able to make her move, the hoplites crouched and held up their shields in formation. They were not going to leave any openings for her to burst through. Then they held up their spears and approached her slowly, shrinking the room she had with every step. ' _Tsk! How cautious of them. I guess hoping for them to get careless was expecting a little too much huh?'_

She gritted her teeth, if she didn't act now there would be no more room for her. So she decided to charge right at the corner of the semi-circle they had formed, that way not all of their spears could reach her compared to if she were to strike the middle of the formation. Using the burst of speed from [Blade Surge] she was able to dodge two spears but one fully punctured her stomach. The pain was mind numbing as the steel dug into her abdomen causing her to spit out some blood.

"Foolish girl!"

"You speak too soon…" Her sword glowed red and unleashed a strong sound wave. "[Equilibrium]!" The sword skill had caused all of the soldiers to be damaged and stunned. Not wasting the opportunity that was not going to present itself again, she used the remaining duration of [Blade Surge] to quickly eliminate three hoplites. As she tried to turn towards her fourth victim, the effects of [Blade Surge] wore off and the side effects kicked in. She immediately felt a decrease in her movement speed and attack speed. To make matters worse, the stun had worn off of the remaining hoplites. The one closest to her regained his senses and quickly hit her with a [Shield Bash], knocking her to the ground.

Irelia coughed as the wind was knocked out of her. ' _Kirito was right…we needed to level-up these skills more._ '

"What a tough bitch!" yelled one of the soldiers as he shook off the stun and towered over her. "Any last words, warrior?"

"Do I…get some time to think about it? I want to say something poetic." The hoplite chuckled and Irelia laughed a little as well.

"Farewell," said the hoplite soldier as he brought his spear down. But before he could deal the finishing blow, a blur of gold came crashing down from the sky. The impact of the golden knight's landing caused the ground beneath him to shatter and with his left hand, he crushed the skull of the soldier that was threatening his comrade to the ground.

The golden knight turned towards the remaining eight hoplites that postured up to fight, "Fear not, the cavalry's here."

"Who are you? Identify yourself!"

"I'm this girl's friend. Which would make me your enemy." Instinctively, they all immediately got back into shield formation and advanced towards the golden knight. His golden armor shined brightly under the moonlight as he slowly unsheathed the greatsword on his back. "I would say run, but I wouldn't let any of you get away." The eyes under the helmet seemed to have stared right into all of their souls as a righteous anger burned in them and perhaps for the first time in their life as warriors they felt genuine fear.

"I can fight…" said Irelia as she tried to get up.

"Stay down, this will be over soon." A white aura enveloped his body and he began charging towards the soldiers at a monstrous speed, leaving behind small craters with each step. He then leaped forward into the air and roared as he brought his greatsword down. "[Judgement]!"

"Oh my God…" was all Irelia could say as she sat up and looked at the destruction in front of her. The shield formation of the hoplites stood no chance against such tremendous force as the bodies of the soldiers were scattered everywhere along the stretch of debris that continued on for the next few blocks. "Who are you…?"

The golden knight slowly took off his helmet and absolutely astonished Irelia. "Arthur, the Second."

"Jesus Christ," said Irelia as she breathed out a sigh of relief and lied down. "Thought you were some kind of monster."

"It's nice of you to say that," said Arthur as he chuckled lightly. "But more importantly what the hell is going on? Why are the city guards attacking you?"

"They've got Kirito."

"What…?"

"The king, he's crazy or something. Poisoned our drinks, Kirito managed to get me out but he was caught."

"Then the explosion at the palace…"

"Yeah that was us," said Irelia as she smiled proudly.

"Anyway, first things first, I'll get you back to the carriage where it's safe."

"No, you gotta go help out Robin with the rescue! I'm fine, I'm healing up right now with the poti-"

"You be quiet. You nearly got killed you know?"

"Ehh, you go through it once, go through it twice, it doesn't seem that bad the third time around."

"I'm sorry we weren't here."

"Don't worry big guy, you arrived just in time in my books."

* * *

Eight on one was going to be a hard fight, especially when these soldiers were all near his level, but he wasn't going to complain when Irelia had more on her side. The hoplites got into their phalanx formation and slowly began to approach him. ' _Aren't you guys being way too cautious for an 8v1 situation?_ ' He knew if he was going to win, he would have to take the initiative and take them by surprise when they didn't know what his skills are yet.

He jumped straight in with [Leap Strike] and landed on one of the hoplites' shield. Despite the hard hit, the soldier was able to successfully absorb the impact with his shield. The rest of his squad immediately retaliated with their spears and Jax immediately used [Counter Strike], blocking and dodging all their thrusts. Shocked by their opponent's dexterity they immediately tried to back off but it was too late, Jax released the shockwave of [Counter Strike] and stunned all of his enemies around him. He then quickly swung his halberd with one hand and pulled out his dadao with another, cleanly lobbing off one head and landing a deep slash on another.

The short stun was shaken off by the rest of them and they quickly backed away. The one that lived had a shoulder wound that would put his arm out of commission but still left him with enough HP to be a nuisance. Jax had hoped he could have finished 3 or 4 of them but with the skill level of [Counter Strike] being so low and the hoplites' natural resistance towards debuffs that was all he could get.

He quickly dropped his halberd and picked up the short sword that the Greeks used with his left hand. A long and heavy weapon like the halberd wasn't going to help him when he's surrounded and fighting in close quarters. The remaining soldiers closed in on him on all sides, two spears thrusted at him first which he successfully deflected with both blades. Another two spears came at him, not giving him a second to breathe. One he dodged by sidestepping, the sharp iron barely missing his face, cutting his hair tie and letting loose the long black hair he had kept in a ponytail. Another one he dodged by jumping up and pinning down the weapon under his foot, he then quickly used his blade to break the weapon in half rendering it useless. The last three attacks were going to hit him for sure, so instead of putting up a half-assed defense, he went straight for the one he had injured. His dadao glowed crimson red and came down hard on the shield the poor soldier was holding, cutting right through it like a hot knife through butter, straight through the bronze, flesh, and bone.

The remaining two spears pierced into his body, one at his left shoulder and one at his right leg. Thinking they had their opponent pinned and thinking that they had won, the hoplites relaxed their guard for an instant. "AHH! AHHHH! AHHHHH!" Jax screamed in pain as he pushed forward and drove the spear that was in his shoulder deeper and deeper until it pierced all the way through his body. Streams of blood trickled down the left side of his body, coating his blue outfit red. Shocked by the monstrous act, the hoplite couldn't bring his shield up in time when Jax thrusted the short blade into his heart. Not wasting any of the momentum, he broke off the spear that was stuck to his leg and swung his sword wildly at the other attacker. The hoplite quickly backed away and Jax stumbled forward a few feet and faced his remaining five foes.

Half covered in his own blood, spears sticking out of his body, long black hair disheveled and covering his face. Under the moonlight, he looked like a demon. A killer aura that even made the lifelong soldiers begin to question whether or not they should keep fighting. Jax then lifted up his dadao and threw it into the ground, leaving it embedded in the concrete. And he began to pull out the spear that had skewered his left shoulder, slowly the weapon that was now painted in his blood began to exit his body. The pain was so mind-tearing that he wasn't sure whether or not he was screaming.

"What kind of monster are you!?"

' _Why am I fighting? How am I still fighting?'_

He didn't answer them, even breathing was an excruciating task at this point. Instead, he spun the spear around and launched it at them with the speed and strength of a trained Olympian, piercing straight through the head of one of the remaining soldiers. In a panic, they all quickly put their shields back up, relying on their muscle memory to carry them through this terrific nightmare. Jax used his foot and kicked up the spear that was laying on the ground into his hand and launched a second bullet. The spear pierced right through one of the hoplites' shield and at that point they realized that they were no longer fighting a human. Looking through the gaps of their shields, they could only see a demon warrior, fearless…smiling. It began to run at them, sweeping up his dadao that was previously embedded into the ground. Their wills were broken at this point, it was no longer a fight.

"Where is he?"

"What…are you…?" What stood on top of him was a girl who radiated light, an angel. An angel of death.

"I won't ask again," said Asuna as she pushed her rapier closer to the throat of the man she was standing on. Dozens of dead guards all around her in the throne room that was now completely destroyed. "Where is Kirito?"

* * *

 ***Author's Note: As a side note, I've been getting a few character requests lately and I just want to say that I'm happy to take in more. Although not all of them will make it onto the main cast, I will try my best to weave them into the story as NPCs with unique quest lines. Hope you guys all enjoyed this chapter, as always reviews are greatly appreciated and I wish you all a wonderful day/night!**

 **Behind the Page**

 **There were some great questions asked by Sazq that I thought should be answered here for everyone to see, so here we go:**

 **Do NPCs realize they are part of a game? Yes and no XD They are programmed to act like normal human beings, they have emotions and their own personality (as I have portrayed with Theseus). Thus the choices the players make have a significant impact on the world of SAO because these NPCs are "alive" in a sense. However, they've been living with the game system their whole "lives," so when players refer to the game itself the NPCs do know to an extent what they are talking about (for example, Daedalus knowing what a Floor Boss was).**

 **Can they determine the difference between a player and other NPC? No, to them the players are just adventurers and kind souls that are willing to offer help. I guess it's kinda of funny to think these people are not bothered that hundreds of strangers showed up in their lands but for now we'll just say that they are used to adventurers coming and going.**

 **Response to Reviews**

 **Sazq: First and foremost, thank you once again for dropping a review, hope you enjoyed this chapter as well! I have answered the amazing questions you've asked in the Behind the Page section; it really makes me happy when readers are invested and curious about the world that I'm creating so thank you for asking!**

 **TheSoloPlayer: It's always super awesome to see an old reader back, thanks for the review! Hope your summer school went well and that you can enjoy the rest of your summer free of work! And yes, yes she did XD**

 **Norsewryter-riider: Thanks for the review and I'm happy you're liking all of these elements from different universes converging into this one story. As for the character requests, I'll definitively keep them in mind, however, you probably won't be seeing any new player characters in this arc.**

 **K-316: Thanks for the encouragement, hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!**

 **Eromanga-sensei: Hope I didn't disappoint DX**

 **uqoxe24: Thank you for your kind words, hope I can continue to earn your support!**


	21. No King of Mine

**Chapter 19 – No King of Mine**

Merciless and unmatched, that was the opponent that was facing them right now. An angelic being that came out of nowhere, has already slain over twenty of the finest royal guards. ' _What have we done to deserve this Zeus!_ ' thought the last remaining soldier as he cowered under the Valkyrie. "What…are you…?"

"I won't ask again. Where is Kirito?"

"K-Kirito? I-I do not know anyone by that name, I swear by Zeus' name!"

"Have you heard any rumors about some travelers that visited the palace today?"

"I-I did hear that two people were imprisoned for attempting to poison the king, one of them got away and the other one is locked in the dungeons right now."

"Is it a man or a woman?"

"A man. Black-haired."

' _Kirito…That idiot! I bet he did some self-sacrificing stunt again to get Irelia to escape!_ ' "Which ways the dungeon?!"

"Down the corridor to the left."

The girl looked down at him with her cold glowing hazelnut eyes. "Thanks. Now then, I guess I have no more use for you." She raised up her rapier and the soldier quickly began begging for his life. "No please, have mercy! I have a family, two daughters! Pleases don't kill me!" Awaiting his fate, the soldier closed his eyes but the long-awaited swing of the rapier never came. "Kill you? When did I ever say I was going to kill you?" said Asuna as she sheathed her weapon.

"H-Huh?" said the soldier pathetically, as he looked back up in confusion. "But…the others…"

"They're not dead, I just knocked them out."

"W-Why…"

"That's what I should be asking you. You guys attacked me as soon as I showed up."

"Aren't you guys the invaders who attacked the palace? Who's planning to bring Corinth into ruin?"

"I highly doubt that's what Kirito intended to do when he came to visit." ' _If I had to guess, someone must have set him up. Anyhow, I'll worry about that later. For now, l need to find him…fast._ '

* * *

"Where in bloody Hades is the prisoner?!" yelled Sisyphus as he stormed down the hall towards the dungeons.

"He managed to escape his cell, Your Majesty, and we've been unable to find him," reported a soldier with his head held down.

"Oh, is that so? Well then, that's totally understandable," said the king as he approached the soldier. "Are you perhaps also tired of looking for him?"

"N-No Your Majesty, I'm sure we will be able to locate him soon."

"You mean they will be able to locate him soon," said Sisyphus as he gestured to the rest of the guards around him.

"…My kin-" Before the soldier could finish his sentence, Sisyphus stuck a knife deep into his gut and twisted it as the man fell to his knees. "Now then," said Sisyphus as he turned to the rest of the guards, "go search at the opposite side of the palace. He must be long gone by now and is leading this invasion at this very moment."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" said the soldiers unanimously as they quickly excused themselves.

Sisyphus then turned to his personal guards, "Where is Diogenes?"

"We haven't seen him, Your Majesty."

"Go. Find him."

"B-But my king, it is not safe for you to be by yourself right now."

"Hmm? You question my judgment?"

"N-No, this one would never question Your Majesty, however, we've sworn a sacred oath to your father that we would protect you no matter what."

"My father…ah yes, the one that watched his people starve and dry up. The one that kept praying day and night hoping the gods would do something about our predicament." Sisyphus drew out the dagger from the soldier he had just killed and smiled. "Now choose which is more important to you, the oath of absolute fealty you swore to me or the one you swore to my dead father."

"M-My apologies my king, we will go right now!"

"Good, find the intruder and kill him on sight."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Once Sisyphus was left alone, he continued down into the lowest floor of the dungeons. As soon as he stepped into the dark room he heard the chains rattling and the heavy breathing of his prisoner. "Sisyphus!"

"Hello Thanatos, how are you enjoying your…stay at my palace?"

"Once I am free, I will rip out your tongue first so that you won't be able to scream as I tear you apart!"

"Ah, 'once you get free.' I wonder when that will be."

"Might just be sooner than you think with all that's been happening tonight."

Sisyphus chuckled, "You really think a couple of mercenaries will be able to take me down? I am a being that has captured a god! I have made you into a dog, I am your master now!"

"You really believe Olympus will stand by while you do as you please?"

"If Zeus wants retribution, he shall have it. In the form of their bodies, burned, carved and sacrificed as he likes. In fact, we will start with their black-haired leader. We both know how much the god of thunder hates a prideful boasting tongue." Sisyphus then clapped his hand and took out a scepter out of his robe. "Now then, shall we begin?"

"RAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

"What just happened?!" asked Robin as he and Diogenes stopped in the middle of a hallway. The palace rumbled as if the tectonic plates under the earth had just clashed; the walls cracked and the columns shook, but most terrifying of all was the roar that came from below them. Yet it was brief, the shaking stopped and there was an unpleasant silence that now replaced the chaos.

"An…earthquake, perhaps?"

"There you are!" yelled one of Sisyphus' personal guards as they marched down the corridor. "Diogenes, the king summons you."

"What was that just now?"

"I don't know. Most likely more of the intruders' magic." Diogenes shot a brief look over at Robin who kept silent and tried to keep his profile hidden. "The king has asked me to fetch an artifact from my working chamber to fight off against the intruders."

"The king desires your presence now. We will grab the artifact."

"No, no, no, the artifact is very fragile and unstable. Mishandling it could cause irreparable damages."

"We will not repeat ourselves again. Direct yourself to the king now or we will do so for you," said the guards threateningly as they took a step closer. To which Robin responded by doing the same. "You dare defy the king's command?"

"The king asked Master Diogenes to grab the artifact, please let us be on our way and we will join His Grace as soon as we can."

"Step aside soldier, or we will kill you in the name of the king."

"Your king is not here right now. It's just you and me." Robin quickly drew out his dagger and aimed for the guard's throat, however, the royal guards were chosen to protect the king for a reason. The Greek soldier blocked the slash with his arm guard and kicked him back a few feet. "Kill him, he's an intruder. And break the scholar's legs, he might be colluding with them."

' _Shit I should have known I couldn't take down a Level 30 royal guard with some cheap trick like that!_ ' thought Robin as he quickly got back on his feet. ' _Six in total, all Level 30. I could use the scrolls as a smokescreen and escape using that as cover. Take them down slowly one by one after that._ ' Right as he made up his mind, something broke through the floor underneath them. A giant being with long black hair busted through the concrete floor as if it was made of nothing but scritta paper. ' _Level 54?! They had something like that lying around?!_ '

"What on earth is that?!" shouted one of the royal guards as they put a voice to Robin's thoughts. Noting their confusion, Robin snapped out of his daze and took the opportunity to try and make an escape. Six Level 30 royal guards were impossible to deal with alone, one Level 54 giant was impossible to deal with even if the whole player base was here. "Name yourself!" demanded one of the guards as he approached Thanatos with his spear. In the blink of an eye, without even looking, the hand of death ripped off the soldier's head.

Instinctively, Robin threw the scroll straight at the monster, grabbed Diogenes, and ran away as fast as could. He didn't turn back to see the result; if the monster was damaged, good, but even then it would most likely still be alive and as long as it was still alive, they were not safe. "What is that thing?!" asked Robin as he ran from the soldiers that were still in shock.

"May the gods have mercy. May Eleos preserve me," muttered Diogenes.

"Snap out of it old man! I need to know what that thing is, what kind of weakness it has-"

"HA!" Diogenes laughed in despair. "That 'thing' has no weakness. That thing is the personification of death, the right hand of Hades, Thanatos son of Nyx." Robin had no words to respond with, ' _A god of death on the Third Floor? This is insanity…_ ' But before he could complain, first he had to survive. The hairs on his body stood up as he heard the sound of wings flapping get louder and louder. ' _He's coming!_ ' By activating [Eagle Eye] briefly, Robin was able to gauge where the attack was coming from behind him and managed to duck with Diogenes at the last second. The god of death flew right over them and charged straight towards a wall.

"Robin?!" With perhaps the worst timing ever, Asuna turned the corner of the corridor straight into the full-speed god of death. With her senses heightened from the last remaining bit of [Valkyrja Mode], she was able to [Parry] the attack just in time and the full force of the attack was sent right back onto Thanatos, pushing the giant straight back to the other side of the hallway. As [Valkyrja Mode] wore off, [Heaven's Fatigue] kicked in and Asuna felt all her energy instantly drain from her. But it only took a brief moment before Thanatos shook off the rubble over him and got back up again for a second strike.

Thanatos extended all four of his black wings from his back and pulled out a long curved blade made out of material that was not of this world. "Asuna get out of there!" Although her mind was telling her to move, her body, with all of her stats now halved, was not willing to listen. The god of death extended out his arm and gave the valkyrie a final prayer as he took flight to carry out the death sentence.

She felt her body move but it was through no strength of her own, and out of the corner of her eye she saw the edge of his black hair and blood that gushed out. Realization sunk in as her body hit the floor and she turned to look at the body that took her place. There was an unpleasant silence, it felt wrong and unreal. She wanted to scream his name, scream 'no' but her voice wouldn't come out.

"You see, this is what happens when you oppose me," said Sisyphus as he walked into the hallway. "You should have just accepted your fate and behaved like the good sacrificial cattle you are. And you, Diogenes, why do you stand there with our enemies? Stand up and come to my side."

Diogenes looked at Robin then looked back at Sisyphus. He understood the situation, which is why he knew what he had to do. "Thank the heavens, my king! You have saved me from these kidnappers and terrorist!" He immediately pushed away from Robin and ran toward his king.

"It's good to see that you are well Diogenes," said Sisyphus as he embraced the scholar. "I was worried I wouldn't get to kill you myself." Before the scholar could do anything, a knife was shoved into his gut.

"Did you really think you could take me by surprise after all that you've done?" said Sisyphus as he revealed the hidden dagger within Diogenes' clothe. "I thought you were a man of thinking Diogenes, what on earth turned you into a fool that believed you could rise against me, your king?"

"You are…no king of mine…" said Diogenes as blood gushed out of his mouth and body. "You have your father's name and blood…but you do his bloodline no justice."

"I see…so this is what you've always thought of me…" Sisyphus began to chuckle, "The sheep reveals itself to be a viper that would bite the hand that feeds it. You truly are a fool, Diogenes! I am a grea-, no…I am THE GREATEST king in the history of Greece! I have bargained with Zeus, tricked the hand of death and secured a great future for Corinth! Now you will witness the power of a god! Thanatos, kill them all!"

The angel of death picked up his curved blade and swung it at Robin. The ranger managed to quickly roll out of the way and avoided being crushed. But once the dust cleared, what remained were the two half's of Diogenes' body, bloody and scattered. "Asuna we got to run! Asuna! Asuna!" No matter how hard he shook her and yelled her name, the girl could not tear her gaze away from the cold cadaver that laid in front of her. ' _How could this happen? You promised me…_ '

* * *

His body jolted awake to the sound of the monster approaching and he quickly reached out and grabbed his shield. The gigantic three-headed beast approached him, but once again simply growled and walked away without harming him. After being carried off by the Chimera into an unknown cave, he was being kept alive also for an unknown reason. It seems like the Chimera doesn't even consider him to be threatening enough to take away his equipment or to restrain him. He had thought about running but considering the speed of that thing, there would be no escape.

' _It picked me to take away, why is that?_ ' thought Agil.

Suddenly, a voice resounded in his head, ' _ **That is because you have what we want.**_ ' Agil snapped his head toward the Chimera. ' _Is it talking to me through telepathy?_ '

' _ **No. It is I…**_ ' said the voice as another beast emerged from the shadow of the cave. A two-headed black dog with a serpent-tail. ' _ **Orthros. And I demand, that you return to me my daughter or I will lay to waste all of Greece.**_ '

* * *

 ***Author's Note: This chapter has been sitting at 80% complete for literally three months…I'm so sorry about the break in update, second year university has been extremely busy for me and I never got the chance to build a consistent writing schedule. Not sure how many people are still left but I do hope those who are enjoyed this chapter. I would love to see those that are still here so leave a comment and let me know!**

 **Behind the Page**

 **-for those of you a bit confused about Asuna's [Valkyrja Mode] and [Heaven's Fatigue], just check it out in the Character Cards Set 1**

 **-historically, or mythically, I'm not sure how accurate it was that Sisyphus' father was kind but I decided to go with it to add a bit more depth to his character**

 **-I'm sure you guys all already are, but picture Orthros' voice to be deep…very deep, as emphasized by the bold XD**

 **Response to Reviews**

 **TheSoloPlayer: Awesome to see you back man and I'm glad my story is able to have a positive impact in your life, hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Silver-Tritium-Protractinium: Thanks for telling me, I didn't know that since I haven't read the novels, the change has been made.**

 **Delta Marauder: Thank you so much for the support, it means a lot when people enjoy the little extra effort I put into my story. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **XiiiKakashi: Glad some people find it entertaining, stats wise that chapter does the worse XD But if at least one person enjoys it then I'll keep the Character Cards updated. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **CloudySpace: Thank you so much for the encouraging review, if it isn't too much trouble I would really appreciate it if you could point out the inconsistencies and I would gladly go back and fix them (if I can)! I really do put in a lot of effort to incorporate the different myths and I'm happy people are liking it.**

 **AzAlexZ: Thanks a lot for leaving an encouraging review, I think you got most of them right but you can always check on the next chapter! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	22. A Deal with the Devil

**Chapter 20 – A Deal with the Devil**

Kirito's eyes flew open as he sat up gasping for air. He looked around and found himself to be in some sort of cave; spacious yet claustrophobic at the same time. It was filled with darkness yet he seemed to know which way to go. "Looks like it worked…"

He followed the small stream of water that flowed by him and ended at a river. The river was flowing yet there were no ripples on the surface; the water was so clear and still that the reflection of himself was perfect, even more so than one from a mirror. Down the river, he heard a cheery voice and the sound of water being moved by oar.

"Biting your tongue

so words don't slip out.

The taste of copper,

sharp in your mouth.

'Penny for your thoughts'!

the saying goes,

but they could never afford

the words buried below."

The man pushed his oar down and stopped the boat in front of Kirito. He wore a plague bird mask, a top hat, and a black leather trench coat and spoke in a light-hearted Norse accent. "Well, well, well, if it isn't another traveler. Salutations! My name is Charon, I am the ferryman of Hades."

"My name's Ki-"

"I know who you are, Mr. Kirito. And I know where you want to go. The question is…" He extended out his gloved hand, "do you have my payment?"

"Here it is," said Kirito as he took a coin out of his pocket. ' _Creepy mask..._ '

"Ah, Lord Thanatos' sigil, please…" said Charon as he helped Kirito board the boat and began rowing. "I wonder…where did a human get his hand on a coin like this?"

"Thanatos himself gave it to me. He needs me to deliver a message to Hades."

"I see, I see. To reach Hades' Palace, we will first have to cross the Lethe. I hope you have prepared yourself, those who do not have a strong sense of self will not make it past the river."

"What do you mean?" asked Kirito but instead of answering, the ferryman went back to his singing. The pair drifted down the river with nothing in sight except for more water; the once small stream of water has gone from a river to an ocean. "I imaged Hades to be more…fiery."

"I could take you to Phlegethon if you would like to see fire."

"No, I'm not here to sightsee. I don't have time for that."

"You don't have time? My friend, down here, time is not the issue." As they continued down the river, the once clear water began to turn murky and fog settled in around them. As Kirito looked into the fog, he saw a vision of him and Sugaha playing together.

"W-What the…"

"The fog will show you pieces of your memories. Oh, I forgot to mention this but please refrain from drinking from the river."

As he continued to look into the fog, the vision became more and more blurry until suddenly the image of his sister disappeared. ' _Wait, what happened to Su-, Su-…What's her name again?_ '

"Having trouble remembering, Mr. Kirito?"

Kirito's eyes grew wide at that question. "Su…gu…hi? He? Ho? Ha? Ha! Suguha! What did you do to me?!"

"Me?" asked Charon incredulously. "I've just been rowing the boat like a good ferryman. I did warn you in the beginning that you would need a strong sense of self to make it past here." The fog thickened and Kirito's vision became even more clouded than before, so much so that he could no longer even see Charon who was right beside him on the boat.

' _What am I doing here? Where am I…? Who am I?_ '

'How could this happen? You promised me…'

' _What did I promise? Who is this?_ '

'Asuna we got to run! Asuna! Asuna!'

' _Asuna…_ '

* * *

"Goddammit Asuna, let him go!" yelled Robin as they continued to run from the god of death behind them.

"No! I swear I heard him talk!" insisted Asuna as she carried the body of Kirito on her back.

"He's already dead! Can't you see that?"

"If he's dead, how come he hasn't disappeared into those sharps of pixels yet?!"

"How am I supposed to know? Maybe when a player dies, it's different from when a monster dies!"

"No, he's alive, I know he is!"

"Couples…" muttered Robin as he activated [Eagle Vision] and located where Thanatos was, then with a quick spin, he shot his bow. The shot went far right, missing terribly, and their pursuer paid it no mind. "[Curved Shot]" The arrow's trajectory then suddenly curved back towards the left and sliced through both of Thanatos' eyes. With Thanatos temporarily blinded, the two quickly turned the corner and hid in a room filled with statues.

"Alright, now you listen to me," said Robin as he placed his hands on Asuna's shoulders. "Kirito is dead. I know that's hard to accept but you need to right now or both of us is going to die." Asuna began shaking her head but Robin flexed his grip. "Look at me. He gave his life to save you, by some twisted romanticized logic, he believed that your life was worth more than his own. So you need to pull yourself together or else his sacrifice would have been for nothing."

At that moment Thanatos turned the corner as well and began to smash all the statues mindlessly. "We don't have any more time, if you want to die by his side it's your choice. But I still have people left that I need to take care of, so decide."

After a moment of doubt, Asuna finally spoke. "Alright...I've decided," she looked back at Robin and gave a determined look. "I know what I heard, I know he's still alive. I'm staying."

"You…" Before he had a chance to finish his sentence, the long curved blade of Thanatos came down at them.

* * *

'He's dead…Kirito is dead.'

' _Kirito…is that me? Am I dead?_ '

'No, he's alive, I know he is!'

' _Which is it…?_ '

'I know he's still alive.'

' _I'm…still alive…_ ' Kirito slowly opened his eyes and sat back up, he looked around and found that he was still in Charon's boat and surrounded fog.

"Oh Mr. Kirito, I thought you were gone already," commented Charon as he rowed nonchalantly.

"What is happening to me?" asked Kirito as he held his head.

"The river is trying to steal your memories. After all, dead people have no need for those anymore."

The visions in the fog began appearing again and Kirito quickly tried to look away. "That won't help you," said Charon. ' _I've got to think of a way to stop forgetting…Think…Charon mentioned not to drink the water, so perhaps it is the water's magical property that's making me forget. But if that's the case, why is Charon, who frequently ferries the Lethe unaffected?_ '

Then it hit him, a way to stop his memory loss. "I'm sorry for this," said Kirito as he approached Charon.

"Hmm?" Before the ferryman could say anything more, Kirito knocked him out with the pommel of his sword. Once Charon was unconscious, Kirito took off his plague bird mask and put it over his face. ' _If the effect of forgetting comes from the water, then that means the fog which condensed from the water also contains the same effect, causing me to lose my memories when I breathe it in. The reason Charon can do his job is because he has this mask and hasn't been breathing in the fog._ '

As soon as he put the mask on, the memory loss effect began to dissipate and so did the fog. ' _Maybe you can only see the fog once you breathe it in. After all, Charon wouldn't be able to properly direct the boat if he couldn't see where he was going._ ' The mist dispelled and revealed the shore and Hades' Palace.

A towering gothic castle that glowed a cold blue, the light that emanated from the structure pulsated as if the building itself was alive. Its edges were sharp, giving off a sinister and intimating presence. All of the rivers of Hades converged into this center building. Styx the central river of the underworld, the only one of the five who's water was clear. Acheron the river of pain, its content green and viscous. Lethe the river of forgetfulness, murky and covered with mist. Phlegethon the river of fire, a lake of magma and sulfur that lead to the depths of Tartarus. Finally, Cocytus the river of wailing glowed a dead purple and flowed not with the sound of water but with the sound of screaming.

"Consider this tip…" said Kirito as he left a couple of Cols behind on the unconscious Charon. ' _That was a 500% tip, surely he'll forgive me for knocking him out…_ ' He drew out his weapon, on-guard against any monsters that might attack him, but surprisingly, the place was eerily vacant and quiet. Once he made his way to the gate, he found that the door was unlocked. Slowly, he pushed it open and found a dark lobby lit only by a few candle lights.

"Well, well, we have a visitor," said a voice as the door behind him slammed shut. Instantly, Kirito put up his guard again. "Oh please, relax mortal. If I wanted you dead, nothing you do would stop me." A young man and woman came down the stairs arms linked. The man had pale white skin, grey eyes, and long white hair. He was dressed in a simple black Greek robe and although all of his features signaled that he was a young man, Kirito couldn't help but think of death when he looked at him. The young woman beside him was the polar opposite, she was breathtakingly beautiful, with luscious dark amber hair and rosy lips. Her presence radiated life and contrasted brightly against her partner and the place they were at.

"Hades! That's no way to speak to our guest," said the young woman as she gave her partner a stern look. "My apologies, it has been a while since we've had any visitors."

"The last one was quite a pain…"

"My name is Persephone, goddess of fertility and queen of the underworld. And this is my husband, Hades, god of the underworld and brother of Zeus."

"Persephone, how often must I ask you not to introduce me as Zeus' brother?"

"Well it is the proper way to introduce someone, surely you wouldn't want me to use the son of Cronus."

Hades sighed. "Fine, do what you will."

Kirito relaxed a little and sheathed his weapon, the two gave off a newlywed vibe which helped ease his tension. Looking at their Level, they were right to say that he was of no threat to them. "Now then, would you like something to drink? We were just about to have dinner, how about joining us?" asked Persephone.

"I'm okay thank you, bad experiences of people offering me drinks…Actually, I'm here to speak to you about Thanatos."

"Ah yes, he's been gone for quite some time. And…you are?"

"My name is Kirito, I'm the commander of the front line and son of…you wouldn't know him. Anyways, Thanatos is currently being controlled by Sisyphus, king of Corinth, and he asked me to come ask you to free him."

"Hmm, that is a problem. With Thanatos being controlled by a human, a key to the underworld is now within the mortals' grasps. How is he being controlled?"

"He is being bound by chains that he said to have been forged in the fire of Hades."

"Hah! The fool is bound by his own chains!"

"My dear…now isn't the time to be laughing. As we speak, there may be souls escaping Hades and going back into the land of the living."

"Do not worry my dear Persephone, the gate has already been shut by someone else."

"Someone else?"

"Yes, two mortals went and closed it. It would be much more convenient if you mortals could take care of Thanatos as well but that may be slightly beyond you."

' _Much more than slightly!_ '

"I shall make sure that he gets freed. Follow me human, I expect you would like to return to the land of the living as well for completing this task."

"Oh, yes, definitively." ' _Wow, this went a lot smoother than expected._ '

As the three of them walked through the castle, they passed through a room filled with magical artifacts, weapons, and equipment, as well as mountains of precious gems and gold. Kirito's eyes lingered as he passed by one legendary sword after another, each tempting him to just take it and make a run for it. But right in the middle of his devious thoughts, a giant canine with three heads lunged at him from the shadows at a speed that was beyond his reaction time.

Luckily for him, Persephone stepped in between them and caught the beast head-on. "Persephone!" yelled out Kirito as he drew his sword ready to fight the beast, only to realize that the three-headed dog was happily licking her face and Persephone was rubbing its heads.

"Sorry about that, Cerberus isn't comfortable with strangers but once you get to know him he's pretty cute and docile. Come here, give it a back scratch, it'll warm up to you in no time."

Kirito gave the dog a look but the look it returned clearly didn't communicate a desire to be touched by him. "Uh…maybe next time?"

"Are you sure? You'll probably never get another chance and he's such a cutie!"

' _Are we looking at the same thing here?!_ '

"C'mon Persephone, you were the one going on about how time is precious right now." With that said, Hades suddenly stopped right in his track as he paused to think about something. "Actually, Kirito…you are quite the competent human for making it here, right? You also said that you were the commander of the front lines, so that would mean that you are the leader of the adventurers, yes?"

"Umm, I guess so."

"How would you like to do a favor for me? In return, I will reward you very handsomely."

"I don't think I'm capable enough to be able to help you, a god, with anything," said Kirito as he laughed nervously. ' _Making a deal with the devil? No way!_ '

"Oh, that's a shame. I was going to give you one of these artifacts as a sh-"

"I'll do it."

 _Quest Started: A Favor for Hades_

"Good," said Hades as his smile grew. "Since my powers diminish greatly outside of the underworld, you will help me clean up the souls that have escaped. In return, I will give you one of these artifacts to take back to the land of the living. If you complete the task within 6 months, I will give you a second one. How does that sound?"

"Sounds too good to be true," said Kirito as he put a smile on his face. ' _But if it is true, then I can't afford to pass up a chance like this._ '

"I would never lie, Kirito. I swear this on my own life so feel free to make your first pick."

"I guess I should hurry then…" said Kirito as he looked around the room. ' _Shit, I wish I had more time. But I'm not sure what's happening back with Asuna and them._ '

"I wouldn't worry about the time flow of this world and the land of the living. Take your time picking," said Hades.

' _Did he just read my mind…?_ ' thought Kirito as he looked at Hades suspiciously. ' _What can't these gods do?_ '

He focused his attention back towards the prize in front of him and then a sudden realization hit him. "What would happen if I can't complete the quest?"

"I will just take back the artifact."

"And how long do I have to complete the quest?"

"Considering your lifespan is within 200 years, that is not significant. Take your whole life if you would like."

' _Hmm…I don't see a catch. I could technically never complete this quest and settle for just one artifact._ ' He scanned the room that was filled with priceless treasures again. ' _But how can I possibly make a choice?!_ '

There were things like:

[The Ring of Hecate]

\+ 100 INT, and WIS

\+ 60% resistance to poison, and magic damage

\+ Call of Witches (Active): Once every moon cycle, you may summon a squadron of six Level 50 Witches.

\+ Enables you to learn Witch-class spells

[Rhok'delar]

\+ 200 STR

\+ 100 SPD

\+ Trueshot (Passive): When using this weapon, you will not miss and will always land a critical strike

Damage: 500

[Durendal]

\+ 20 in all stats

\+ Indestructible

\+ Heal 40 HP for each successful hit; + 1 for every one hundred monsters killed

Damage: 500

' _These weapons and equipment were more than 100 times better what we have right now…_ ' Then he turned his attention to a box that was placed on top of a pedestal and walked toward it. "What is this?"

"That is the [Box of Life]," answered Hades. "Quite a good pick in my opinion."

"I wouldn't recommend it," added in Persephone. "The [Box of Life] is an artifact that disrupts the very cycle of life and death."

"It stores the life energy of anything you kill, and you can use that energy to bring back the same thing you killed. For example, if you were to kill a human, you would be able to bring another human back to life."

A chill ran up Kirito's spine, ' _There's no way I would take this…right? There is no way I can take this, if what they say is true then this would be way too dangerous to bring back. It's inevitable that some people will die during this clear and if their friends or loved ones found out about the existence of this item then…_ ' Although he continued to rationalize against it, Kirito simply couldn't move away from the box. "Is it possible to bring back a human by killing something else?"

"No, it must be the same life form as what you are trying to bring back."

"And how long do I have to bring back someone?"

"You have to do it before their spirit leaves the land of the living. I would say you would have about 20 seconds."

' _Would I be willing to become a murderer to bring someone back?_ ' The faces of his friends began flashing before him and then suddenly his own face. ' _That's right…if I die I could have them bring me back._ ' At that moment, Kirito caught himself and ripped his body away from the cursed box. ' _I won't stoop to that level. I won't become a murderer just to make it out alive._ '

Out of the corner of his eye, a single sword caught his attention. A single blade and its sheath sitting on a katana stand. At first glance, it seemed like a standard katana, an old design that lacked a guard, but just like the [Box of Life], it gave off an ominous aura. "That is the [Muramasa]," said Hades behind him, "crafted by Muramasa Sengo, a genius swordsmith who lived and pursued his craft during the Muromachi period."

"14th-15th century AD? This is Japanese history…"

"Neither space nor time operates the same way between this realm and the land of the living. You ought to keep this in mind once you make it to the upper floors."

After giving the blade a closer look, Kirito had to admit that the craftsmanship was indeed of an extraordinary quality and sharpness, transcendent even for that time period, however, he couldn't figure out why it was in this treasure room filled with all these other legendary weapons. "It is said that the blades Muramasa crafted were imbued with his insanity and bloodlust and that it would pass on to those who wielded the weapon. I've also heard that it granted them superhuman strength and resistance to pain and damage."

"Well read."

"Kendo was my hobby so naturally I got to hear such a famous cursed sword myth."

"It is no myth. Muramasa was a swordsmith that reached the skill level of Hephaestus himself, however, his mind could not contain such knowledge and divinity causing him to go insane. Fortunately, that did not affect the quality of his work, no, in fact, I would say it even enhanced it with that relentless perfectionism of his. But unfortunately for the wielders, the blade would turn against them if it's thirst for blood was not sated. I would confidently say that this is the best weapon I have, but quite the double-edged sword."

"Would you like to try to see if you have the will to control the [Muramasa]?" added Hades as gestured toward the blade. "Fear not, if you go on a frenzied rampage I will stop you."

"Hmm…" Kirito paused and thought about it as he continued to analyze the blade to no avail.

[Muramasa]

N/A

' _This is the first time I've seen this, not even a damage description._ '

"[Muramasa] will reveal its true form once it has a wielder."

"Very well…" Kirito took a deep breath and reached out. ' _Here we go…_ ' As soon as his hand made contact with the handle, strange markings crawled up his arm.

" **BLOOD, GIVE ME BLOOD!"**

' _I've lost control of my arm?!_ ' The blade used his own arm to make an attempt at the artery in his neck forcing Kirito to use his other hand to stop it. His bare hand clutched the steel as his own body worked against him, the edge cut into his palm and drew blood. He gave a look back at Hades, who simply stood there and watched. ' _Guess I'm not getting any help from him._ '

" **KILL, KILL, KILL!"**

' _Hear me [Muramasa]! I will make a pack with you!_ '

" **WHY WOULD I, MURAMASA, MAKE A DEAL WITH YOU?!"**

' _You seek blood, right? But tell me, how much of it are you getting sitting on that stand?_ ' The strength of the blade began to waver. ' _That's right, none at all. If you agree to cooperate with me, I will let you sate your thirst with the blood of my enemy._ '

" **SPEAK ON."**

' _Each time I draw you, I promise you blood. Either mine or my enemies._ _And you will taste it no less than once a day._ '

" **NO! MORE!"**

' _No less than once a day! In return, you will be obedient to me and you will never turn against me, my friends or my allies._ '

" **AND IF YOU ARE TO BREAK THIS CONTRACT?"**

' _Then you shall have my life._ '

" **HA HA VERY WELL!"** The markings on his arm crawled up to his chest, over his heart. **"LET THIS BE A REMINDER OF OUR DEAL."** He breathed out a sigh of relief as he finally regained control of his arm and the voice faded from his head.

[Muramasa]

Legendary Base

\+ Death Mark (Active): When [Muramasa] is drawn, seal your enemies' fate by marking them with a cursed mark. Enemies marked with [Death Mark] take 25% additional damage. Killing an enemy marked with [Death Mark] will grant you an additional 25% damage dealt for 4 minutes. For every [Death Mark] not collected within 4 minutes, lose 0 HP

Cost: 0 SP

Cooldown: 60 Minutes

\+ Flawless Swordsmanship (Passive): Sword Art skills cost 50% less. Bonus increases to 60% at One-Handed Lvl. 500 and to 80% at One-Handed Lvl. 1000

Damage: ?

"Impressive!" said Hades as he clapped his hands. "Very impressive, I've never heard of anyone making a contract with the [Muramasa] before. You are truly outstanding, aren't you mortal? However, I wouldn't rely solely on that contract to keep [Muramasa] in check."

"What do you mean?"

"That sword will devour you the first chance it gets, and when it does…it will no longer abide by the rules," said Hades as he lowered his voice for the last part. "But! As a show of appreciation for entertaining me, I will give you something else." Hades picked up the katana on the sword stand beside him.

[Masamune]

May only cut that which is deserving

Damage: ?

"Quite the ambiguous description," said Kirito as he analyzed it, "but if its free I'll gladly take it. By the way, what does the term 'Legendary Base' mean?" ' _During my beta run-through I've never even seen any legendary weapons, and I doubt any information broker in these lower Floors would be able to tell me much about it apart from stories._ '

"A weapon with Legendary Base cannot be improved by a blacksmith, so it cannot attain the + (x) mark beside the name. For example, if you were to successfully improve your [Anneal Blade], it would be renamed to [Anneal Blade +1] with improved stats. Instead, for weapons with Legendary Base, you fuse other weapons with it to make it better. The results are sometimes unpredictable but you are, one, certain to get a better weapon, and, two, the new weapon will most likely inherite the main effect of the material weapon. The only restriction is that you cannot fuse two weapons that both have a Legendary Base."

"Wait…so I could technically fuse something like [Durendal] with [Muramasa]?!"

"Correct."

' _Wow...I want to do it. I really want to do it. I would be at a god-like level, wouldn't I?_ '

"Is there a limit to how many times I can fuse?"

"No, but a weapon with Legendary Base usually has a downside to fusing. The downside mainly scales with the strength of the material, and slightly with the number of times it is fused. So, if you were to fuse [Durendal] with [Muramasa], I predict that there would be a serious downside along with the new effects."

"I see…" Kirito then pulled out his [Anneal Blade]. ' _That means I shouldn't worry too much about fusing with the [Anneal Blade] right now. Also, I need to fuse it with something right now considering the fact that I have a contract to fulfill and it would be impossible to do with a weapon that has a damage count of zero._ '

' _Hmm, there isn't an option to fuse in the menu…_ '

"You just have to hit the swords against each other," said Hades as he noticed Kirito's struggles.

"T-Thanks." He then held the two swords with one in each hand and struck them together. The sound of metal clashing resonated far louder than it should have, creating not only a loud sound but a bright light. When the light and noise faded, what remained in his hand was a single weapon. The forte section of the blade, the section closest to the guard, got a slight design upgrade with two new purple gems planted inside the blade along with two jagged points on each side. The hilt and guard also got minor design upgrades and the blade was painted black with the exception of the grip being the same color as the gems.

[Black Crow]

Legendary Base

\+ Death Mark (Active): When [Muramasa] is drawn, seal your enemies' fate by marking them with a cursed mark. Enemies marked with [Death Mark] take 25% additional damage. Killing an enemy marked with [Death Mark] will grant you an additional 25% damage dealt for 4 minutes. For every [Death Mark] not collected within 4 minutes, lose 100 HP

Cost: 0 SP

Cooldown: 60 Minutes

\+ Flawless Swordsmanship (Passive): Sword Art skills cost 50% less. Bonus increases to 60% at One-Handed Lvl. 500 and to 80% at One-Handed Lvl. 1000

Damage: 250

' _Wow, the penalty for not collecting marks went from 0 to 100…I guess it makes sense since if there wasn't a penalty like that I could just mark a hundred enemies and get around a 5 million times damage multiplier…_ '

"Now then, the payment is complete. I will now grant you the ability to distinguish souls that have escaped Hades. I hope you have enjoyed your stay here Kirito," said Hades as he opened up a gate back to the land of the living.

"Thank you for your hospitality, you were surprisingly kinder than I expected…"

"The other gods are just jealous of him, that is why they keep spreading those nasty rumors," said Persephone in disgust.

"Let them talk, those ones have nothing better to do than to gossip."

"I will be sure to come back for another one of those artifacts," said Kirito as he stepped through the gate. "Thanks again for the swords."

Once Kirito stepped through the gate, the portal closed behind him. "I'm surprised you let him have [Muramasa] and on top of that [Masamune]! I thought you were quite the hoarder," said Persephone.

"I'm not that bad, am I?"

"You are. And I can't believe you told him to complete the quest within 6 months, you know that's impossible."

"Well, the greedy will be judged, and I will get to have my precious artifacts back. Plus, who knows? Perhaps Kirito will surprise us once more."

"You really can't stand people betraying you, huh?"

"No, no, no, I just want to see my dear friend again. I'm sure he would like to see me as well, after all, we've shared so much. Isn't that right… **Orthros?** "

* * *

 **Author's Note: Character Cards Set 1 has been updated with Irelia, Jax and Arthur so make sure to check them out! As a fun aside of Greek mythology quiz, let's see if you guys can guess who the previous guest Hades and Persephone were talking about. As always, thank you for reading, feel free to leave any comments about the story and HAPPY NEW YEAR! Next chapter will conclude the Corinth part of the Greek arc!**

 **Response to Reviews**

 **Dragon2505: Thank you for taking the time to leave a review! I'll probably do the second set of Character Cards once the Greek arc is finished, which, I'm not gonna lie, is still far from done :P The first set is not yet complete and I'm updating it as the story moves along. I usually mention it in the AN whenever there are any changes/additions. As for whether the ranks will change in the future…well you'll just have to keep reading XD**

 **Kiro: I don't know what SYOC means :P Would you mind clarifying?**

 **Lonewolf13HAR: It's quite the opposite, I write and live for these long-winded ramblings! I love to hear what my readers think of my stories, whether it be compliments or criticisms. If there are ever any glaring flaws that you see is taking away from the story, please do not hesitate to comment on it. I'm in no way shape or form a perfect writer and I'm still learning as I write new chapters and read the reviews. As for Agil, you're definitively going to see more of him considering he's the centerpiece of the Heart of Gold quest. And for Kirito and Asuna…well that's a given XD Aptitude of a Mage was a chapter that I had an absolute blast writing and it's nice to see that it was also one of your favorite. It's nice to see that more people are stepping forward and commenting on the Character Cards, it was one of the things suggested by a reader but I was never sure if that amount of fine detail would be interesting, glad that the effort I put into those is paying off. All in all, I want to thank you for all the encouraging words and I hope that I will be able to continue to earn your support!**

 **Behind the Page**

 **-although mythically Charon ferries the Acheron and the Styx, Kirito doesn't have many 'pains' yet so I changed it to the Lethe**

 **-Hades' Palace and the five rivers scene was inspired by two art pieces; (1) Underworld by jbrown57 on deviantART, (2) 2D Art Jesse Von Dijk Lightbringer on Pinterest**

 **-Hades and Persephone were based on the art piece hades and Persephone 2 by sandarac on deviantART**

 **-Rhok'delar is a legendary Hearthstone weapon, wanted to include it since I've been playing a lot of it recently**

 **-Durendal was a legendary sword wielded by Roland, a heroic knight that served under King Charlemagne in the 8** **th** **century**

 **-reading up on the Muramasa was very entertaining and I highly encourage anyone who found it interesting to look into it further, I wish I could have it all here but it's quite a bit of information XD**

 **-balancing [Muramasa] was so difficult . because I had to make it better than [Durendal] while at the same time not make it so game breaking that Kirito begins soloing bosses, give me your thoughts on how it is currently**

 **-a sword's blade is divided into three sections; (1) forte, the section closest to the guard, (2) middle section, and (3) weak, the end of the blade**

 **-the design of the [Black Crow] was inspired by the third sword from the art piece Speedpaint Swords by ProlificPen on deviantART**


	23. Fall of Corinth

**Chapter 21 – Fall of Corinth**

"You…" Before he could finish, the long curved blade of Thanatos came down at them.

"It's over!" said Sisyphus as he watched from the entrance of the room, but as he said those words, he noticed the sound of fire crackling paper and looked up.

' _Boom._ ' The scroll that was hanging from the ceiling floated down over Sisyphus' head. The words on the scroll ignited red and a flash of explosion engulfed the room. Black smoke clouded the room and out of it emerged the three adventurers as they ran out.

"How did you do that?" asked Asuna as she coughed out the dust in her lungs.

"The old man put a time delay on the explosive scrolls, I clipped it to the ceiling with an arrow the moment we entered that room," said Robin as he carried the body of Kirito on his back.

"You know you don't have to do this, right?"

"Oh save it. How do you want me to live on knowing that I just left you to die?" ' _I wouldn't be able to face Yoruichi if I did._ '

"Do you have a plan?"

"Of course I do. Unlike you, I have more than just Kirito on my mind," said Robin as he dropped Kirito's body on the floor. "Take him and run."

"W-What? No!"

"Look, I'm going to make this clear. With that [Heaven's Fatigue] debuff, you are going to be dead weight to me here. Plus, with that last move, I've already figured out how to beat that ugly bastard." Asuna looked back at Robin and didn't see any doubt or hesitation. The worry and stress that were clear on his face before has have disappeared, and it was now replaced with seemingly unshakable confidence.

"I'm counting on you then," said Asuna as she picked up Kirito onto her back. As she ran from the fight, she cursed her own weakness. Her rank was higher than Robin's, her equipment was better than Robin's, yet she was leaving it all up to him to deal with the enemy. She used her powers carelessly and ended up in this pathetic state where she couldn't even contribute to the fight. ' _Didn't I swear to myself in Cap Town that I would never abandon anyone ever again?! What's the point of gaining strength if I can't use it at the most crucial moment?_ ' She bit down bitterly on her lip as she continued running, all she could do now was burn this shameful memory into her mind and pray for Robin's victory.

"Now then…Let the show begin…"

Once the smoke in the previous room dissipated, Sisyphus entered the next room slowly, wary of any other traps. "Thanatos, stay close by in case something like that happens again. I was almost crushed to death by your carelessness." When they entered the next room what awaited them was a lone ranger out in plain sight without even bothering with cover. "Haha! Have you given up? Or perhaps you are making a noble sacrifice so that your partners could get away."

"Neither, o great king," said Robin sarcastically as he took an arrow out of his quiver and held it in his mouth. "I am here to end your reign with this arrow." His voice projected nothing but sureness and confidence when a single swing from Thanatos' blade would end his life. Looking at his baseless confidence, one could only assume that a trap was lying in wait for them.

Sisyphus grinded his teeth together, ' _Insolent scum! But if you believe that I am foolish enough to rush in blindly and thoughtlessly then you are more of an idiot than I thought you were._ ' And just as he expected, an explosive scroll ignited at the top of the ceiling, causing rubble and dust to tumble down into the room. None of it even grazed his robe as Thanatos stood over him and shielded him with his body and wings. "Was this your master plan? The same trick will not work twice."

Instead of responding with words, two arrows that glowed green curved in from the right straight towards Sisyphus. "Thanatos!" At his command, the titan swatted the petty projectiles away. With only a brief delay, two more green arrows curved in from the left but even with that tiny window to react, Thanatos was still able to easily swat those away as well.

"Now, kill hi-" But before Sisyphus could finish his sentence, a second explosive scroll went off, causing the room to once again be flooded with dust and rubble. Forcing Thanatos to stay beside his master. Just like the first time, two green arrows curved in from the right, however, the two from the left side arrived at the exact same time. A pincer attack that would normally be unlockable by normal individuals, but Thanatos' Level was not just for show, even with all of his attributes decreased from the mind control, he still had the reflex and speed to deflect all four arrows from both directions.

Just as the dust was about to clear, a third explosive scroll went off. "This is getting old! You are but delaying the inevitable!" ' _Tch, it matters not. Even with the extra time that was bought by this annoyance, I will still easily be able to hunt down the rest of them. Plus, it should be about time he ran out of arrows and scrolls,_ ' thought Sisyphus as he turned his head and checked both sides. ' _Now…which way will it come, the right or the left?_ '

With impeccable timing, the green arrow came straight through the smoke. ' _From the front?!_ _But that's not enough!_ ' Thanatos quickly adjusted and deflected the arrow as he did the others. But what he didn't see was the hidden arrow, a normal one that wasn't glowing green like the others, camouflaged behind both the [Empowered Shot] and the dust. The arrow made its way to mere centimeters away from piercing Sisyphus, but Thanatos showed once again why he was considered Hades' right-hand man as he twisted his body impossibly to barely block the attack in time. The big motion from his giant body and wings dispersed the dust, revealing an empty room in front of them. ' _Where's the archer?!_ '

' _I did say that I would end your reign with this one, didn't I?_ ' Robin took the arrow that he was holding out of his mouth and knocked it. "[Empowered Shot]" The motion was quick and flawless as he pulled back the string and released with perfect grace. The arrow shot through the air and hit its target right in the bullseye. Even as the angel of death, Thanatos was not able to recover from his awkward position after he deflected the camouflaged arrow. "AHHH!" screamed Sisyphus as he touched around his body, feeling for the wound. After a brief moment, he realized that he had only imagined being shot and that in actuality, the arrow did not hit him. "Thank the gods! He missed! Now Thanatos, kill him!"

There was a moment of silence as he waited for his minion to carry out his work. He screamed again, "Thanatos! I command you to kill him!"

"Miss? I don't miss," said Robin as nodded towards the scepter in Sisyphus' hand, the gem that adorned the top was completely shattered by his shot. "I do hope that wasn't important." Sisyphus blinked nervously in disbelief, hoping that what he was seeing was just an illusion. He began to shake uncontrollably and his heartbeat began to accelerate because he knew…he no longer had control of the god of death.

"SISYPHUS!" The titan that was protecting him just a second ago roared in anger as he stood up over the puny king. Before Sisyphus even had a chance to scream, Thanatos brought down his curved blade. "[DEATH INCARNATE]!" The blade turned black and came down with such force that it had split even the sky itself. The impact had reduced Sisyphus to ashes instantly, collapsing the entire palace and left behind a crater the size of a small meteor. Many buildings and homes surrounding the palace had been destroyed along with it, leaving only Thanatos standing.

"You came just in time…" said Robin as he held onto Arthur, who had jumped in from nowhere and rescued him. Once they landed, they regrouped with the rest of the squad.

"So that's the power of a god, huh?" said Arthur as he looked back at the destruction. "I hope we never have to face something like that."

"We'll manage, even if we do."

"Even though it was weakened by the mind control, it's unbelievable that you were able to outmaneuver a Level 54 monster," said Asuna.

"It just took a bit of field work. After blinding Thanatos for the first time, I realized that he didn't have any sense-type skills and that he was reliant on his eyes, which meant surprise and camouflaged attacks would definitively work. Secondly, my first scroll was used to confirm that Sisyphus was not capable of fighting or protecting himself. If he was then we would have died in the room full of statues. However, Thanatos canceled his attack and rushed back to protect Sisyphus. Finally, it didn't take much work to figure out that Sisyphus' scepter was what was controlling Thanatos considering it glowed every time he shouted an order. So, all in all, I just had to play towards Sisyphus' fear of a trap, forcing him to keep Thanatos by his side rather than send him on the offensive."

' _Amazing…to be able to deduce all of that and then orchestrate a reversal under life or death pressure. On top of being able to read his opponent's patterns while planning multiple steps ahead…Just who is this guy?_ ' thought Asuna as she looked at the archer in amazement.

"That's why…he was in my…party," said Jax weakly as he laid on the ground.

"You look like hell," said Robin jokingly, but his statement was not entirely false. Jax's clothing was completely torn up and drenched in blood, yet what was mystifying everyone was the lack of wound on his body. There were holes that matched the spears the hoplites were using and cuts in the fabric that were obviously made with blades…but no wounds.

The atmosphere was still grim despite being finally reunited and completing the quest. Considering the situation that they were put in, they should have lost many members and it was a miracle that so many of them survived, but it was still saddening that their leader had fallen. "Please…I know you're alive…I know you are…" said Asuna as she held Kirito's hand and prayed desperately over him. The others simply looked away in silence, the cut across his body was no doubt a fatal one no matter how you looked at it.

"It seems at least one of you believed in me." That voice. That unmistakable voice. The warmth of the hand she was holding. The light squeeze she felt that confirmed that it wasn't a dream. "If I knew you were going to take care of Thanatos, I wouldn't have gone through the trouble of dying," said Kirito as he sat up in a manner that seemed like he was simply taking a nap. The wound on his body slowly began to close, leaving behind a scar.

"An undead?" said Robin as he knocked an arrow.

"Not this again…" said Arthur as he lifted up his greatsword.

"Wait, wait, wait! What kind of reactions are those?!"

"Kirito!" As soon as he got up, he was hugged down instantly by Asuna. Tears streamed down her face as she repeatedly thanked all the gods she prayed to.

"I'm okay, Asu-"

But as if a switch flipped inside of her head, Asuna instantly got up and pulled out her rapier. "Do you know how worried I was?! Where do you get off just dying like that, huh?! You were supposed to go find quests not start a war! And that self-sacrificing act you do, I don't know if you think it's cool or romantic, but it's not! Wait…maybe you're immortal and that's why you do it. We should test it out."

"W-Wait, stop! If you kill me this time it will be for real! I-I can explain! Please, I'm sorry!" said Kirito as he backed away from the pointy end of her weapon."Thanatos said that if I helped him escape Sisyphus' control by going to Hades then he would revive me and any of you guys who might have died."

"Why would you agree to something like that?! What if you didn't come back and just died?!"

"I thought that was the best chance we had, considering he was a Level 244 monster that was under our enemy's control. Plus, I wasn't sure whether or not Irelia had escaped nor did I know how successful your rescue plan was going. That was to ensure that everyone would be alive by the end of this." His logic was sound, it was something that was thought through, not something he did on a whim or based on some silly desire to be a hero. "I even got this cool sword from Hades."

"You did what?!" said everyone in unison when Kirito explained what happened.

"So you went to hell, made a deal with the devil and came back to life…Now you just need to sleep with your sister to check off all the taboos," said Robin.

"There's really no downside to the deal, and you should have seen all the treasures that were there. There was this bow tha-"

"There's no downside the way you see it, but what if he plans to possess you or something?!"

"I don't think he's interested in that…I mean he seemed pretty happy with his wife."

"Hades has a wife?"

"Yeah, Persephone. She was absolutely beautiful." As the words left Kirito's mouth, he instantly regretted it as he sensed the bloodlust coming from his partner.

"Ah, so that's why it took you so long to come back!" said Irelia.

"W-What, no! Of course not, I was trying to make a good pick." He looked towards Asuna but she seemed to have only turned away in disgust.

"Kirito, you shouldn't make a move on another man's wife," said Arthur.

"Even you, Arthur?! Why is this conclusion suddenly set in stone? I, literally, went through hell for you guys!"

"Guys, look!" said Asuna as she pointed to the palace. Thanatos had flown high up into the air and opened a portal in the sky. Hundreds of light began floating up into the portal, each light a different color and a different shape. In the night sky, they looked like lanterns and it reminded the group of the Obon Festival that they used to go to. As the lanterns flowed up towards the sky, it created a river of light that guided the trapped souls into the spirit world.

One specific soul was taken by Thanatos, "I am not done with you yet, Sisyphus. You will suffer in the depths of Tartarus for all of eternity to atone for your cruelty and deceitfulness! You will roll a boulder up a hill day and night, only to find yourself at the bottom once you reach the top. Your name will go down in history, not as a great king, but as a foolish mistake." The soul squirmed but it was powerless in the palm of Thanatos. After delivering his judgment, Thanatos swallowed the soul with a large gulp and flew into the portal with the rest of the souls.

 _Quest Complete: Sisyphean Task_

 _New Title Gained!_

 _\+ 41395 EXP_

 _\+ 10223 Cor_

As the beautiful scenery reverted back to a normal night sky, so were the adventurers pulled back into reality as they looked at the destruction and ruin that once was Corinth. They looked at each other in silence as they checked their newly gained Title. "I don't suppose this will help us with our negotiations…"

 _Title – {Usurper}_

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, I know this one was a little short but it was just so that I could wrap up the Corinth side and switch over to the Heart of Gold questline. I'm not sure how consistent I can keep the updates since I've started work and it's only going to get busier but I'll try to keep it updated every two weeks! Reviews honestly are my greatest motivation booster, so I urge you to leave one; whether it be constructive criticism or praise, long or short, I appreciate every single one of them and reading them really makes my day. Once again, thanks for reading and have a great day!**

 **Response to Reviews**

 **Kiro: Thanks for pointing out that mistake, I had it hot fixed as soon as I saw your review! As for the length of the chapter, it was actually one of the longer ones considering it was over 5,000 words when I usually have 3,000 words chapters. Maybe it was so good you found it shorter than usual XD (jkjk) I think I finally understood what SYOC means, are you asking whether or not I take suggestions for new characters?**

 **Behind the Page**

 **-I know Arthur coming out of nowhere seems a bit Deus Ex Machina but if you check the Character Cards, Arthur has a skill (Heroic Entrance) that allows him to dash to an ally**

 **-this skill was also used when he saved Irelia**

 **-with skills, I'll use [ ] and with titles, I'll use { }**

 **-the Obon, or Bon, is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors and it ends with the** **Tōrō nagashi which is a ceremony in which participants float paper lanterns down a river**


	24. Family

**Chapter 22 – Family**

"Your…daughter? I'm sorry but I don't know what you're talking abo-"

' _ **DO NOT TRY TO DECEIVE ME HUMAN! I can smell her scent on you.**_ ' The murderous aura around Orthros increased as the cave began to rumble.

"Believe me, if I saw something of your…stature, then I would remember. Oh wait, maybe it was when I was on that mission to collect alchemy ingredients at Mount Lycabettus. We were attacked by a beast there, perhaps that was your daughter."

The beast stared at Agil with all four of its eyes then finally broke his gaze and turned to the Chimera. The two exchanged a look and the Chimera flew out. _'_ _ **I hope you are right, human. My wife is not as patient as I.**_ '

"That monst-" Agil quickly shut his mouth when Orthros returned an intense glare. "That…m-maiden is your wife?"

' _ **Is that strange to you, human? I thought you were a race that was familiar with the concept of marriage.**_ '

"We are…it's just that…"

' _ **You never would have thought monsters like us would be capable of love.'**_ Agil looked away in shame, he felt wrong for judging them by their looks. Back in the real world, when he was still young, he was also judged for the way he looked. Often being perceived as a ruffian with his foreign skin complexion and intimidating build. He had been born and raised in Japan, yet people still thought he was different. ' _Are these monsters the same as us?_ ' thought Agil. ' _They didn't come down to Athens and cause needless destruction, even though they could have. They haven't killed anybody and the only reason they attacked the Parthenon was that they were looking for their daughter._ '

' _ **Well, neither did I.'**_ How many millennia had he served as Hades' 'Faithful Dog'? How many innocent people had to suffer during the War of Gods? Where the sea would flood the land and the mountain would split open. Where prayers fell unanswered and the dead rose from their graves. All done, solely to satisfy Hades' thirst for entertainment. _**'I was once Hades' loyal servant…but after he announced that he wanted to start another war with Olympus, I wanted to cut my ties with him once and for all. I had escaped through a portal that I created with my family, but my daughter was still young and naïve. She wanted to explore the land, rather than live in hiding…We must find her and try to enter Olympus, where Hades has no reach or power before Hades' champion comes to exterminate us.'**_

"Listen…I may not be a parent, but I understand how you feel. So please, just let me get back to my group, and I promise you that we'll help you find your daughter. I can explain to them that you aren't a threat and it will greatly increase the chances of reuniting your family."

Orthros looked down at him with both eyes from both heads and thought about the proposition. _**'You say this, yet why do you refuse to tell me the truth?**_ **'**

"What do you mean?"

' _ **I know when someone says something that is false, and every time you've said that you don't know my daughter, it has been false. Most of the time, it would indicate that you are lying.'**_

"But I haven't been…wait…that would mean that although I know who your daughter is, I don't know that it is your daughter. Maybe…" Then it all finally clicked inside his head, the mysterious appearance of Leona, and why he wasn't able to find her parents. It might be a stretch but it's too much of a coincidence. "Is your daughter perhaps a human girl?"

' _ **A human? No, she is like us.'**_

' _What? Are those two events unrelated?_ ' thought Agil. "Perhaps she developed an ability to shift into a human. I mean that's not impossible, is it?"

' _ **That's true. Although it is rare, I have seen monsters being able to transform into humans…'**_

"It's worth a shot. If it's not her then we'll just keep looking."

After a moment of thought, Orthros finally agreed, _**'Very well, your heart seems to be at the right place. I shall put my trust in you, Agil. Once Chimera comes back, she'll take you back to Athens and you'll help me find my daughter.'**_

* * *

"Which way did it fly to?" asked Merlin without missing a beat as soon as Theseus informed them what had just happened.

"Towards Parnitha, it's a densely forested mountain range north of here and the highest mountain of Attica," said Theseus.

"Alright, then let's go get him back," said Merlin as she turned to leave.

"Calm down," said Mordred as he stepped in front of her. "We currently have no information on the whereabouts of this beast, so it would be near pointless to go and try to find it in that vast mountain range. Furthermore, even if we did find it, what would we do? Even Theseus, who's Level 40 wasn't able to stop it. We, who are only in the 20s, would stand no chance." Although Mordred held the utmost respect for Merlin, he also understood the reality of the situation. Agil was most likely already dead.

"Don't worry we have time," said Mukuro as he entered the scene while being supported by one of the mages.

"What do you mean?" asked Mordred.

"Theseus said that it took Agil, right? Which means it needs Agil for something; if it had simply wanted food then it would have either hunted something in the mountains, which is much easier than attacking Athens, or it would have killed Agil on the spot."

"What if it was just saving him for later? It's also possible that the monster has dependents to feed."

"If that was the case, then why didn't it take Theseus and the guards lying around as well? Based on Theseus' description, it was definitively strong and large enough to carry all of them."

"Your analysis is based purely on the assumption that the beast is on the same level of intellectual capability as us. For all we know, all of its actions might have been done on whims."

"Perhaps. It is certainly possible that by the time we find Agil, he may already be dead. However, if I am right, and we are able to find out why it took Agil, then we will increase our chance of rescuing him dramatically," said Mukuro as he stood up straight and walked over to Merlin. "I know how you are feeling right now, but now is not the time for drastic actions but to remain calm."

Merlin looked down and had no choice but to accept. Just like in Cap Town, if she goes alone now, she wouldn't be doing anyone any good. To top it all off, she wasn't currently in the right mental state to be calling the shots. "Search the area then."

"Right away."

"You are giving her nothing but false hope," said Mordred as he walked up beside Mukuro. "Instead of going on your wild goose chase, we should be thinking about how we can strengthen the city's defense in case that thing comes attacking again."

"Hope is necessary if we are going to clear this game with the least number of casualties. Agil is not only our best tank but also a symbol of hope for a lot of the lower leveled players. Simply giving up on him would be an immense loss to the frontline."

"What we lose if you are wrong will be far worst. Although we've lost a hand, there's no need to lose the entire arm as well."

"If you believe that, then why are you helping with the search?"

"It is better to follow a bad call as a team than have random people separating off and doing their own thing. Plus, I may be a realist but I am hoping that you are right about this."

"Hoh, then you will be cooperating with me on this?"

"Naturally, by succession when the president isn't available, then it's up to the two vice-presidents to step up. We will reach a conclusion, whether it be the key to saving Agil or the dead-end to end this search."

"Then our first clue is obvious."

"Yes, Theseus. Between Agil and Theseus, the monster made a clear pick in Agil." The two mages approached the young warrior who was looking around for Daedalus. "Theseus, was there any type of examination done by the monster before taking Agil away?"

"After the beast stunned us with its roar, it approached us…I believe it smelled us before taking Agil away," answered Theseus.

"Well that narrows it down quite a bit, doesn't it?"

"It could be the smell of anything, but at least we can eliminate people they've both spent time with, and places they've both been at recently. Which means that it shouldn't have anything to do with the Parthenon."

"What the hell happened here?!" asked Klein as he arrived with the group from the coast of the Aegean Sea.

"Agil has been taken away by a Level 87 beast monster, by its description it seems to be a Chimera."

"Then what are we doing standing around here?! We should be putting together a team to rescue him!"

"How are you going to find it in that vast mountain range? We don't even have a clue where to start looking, which is why we're trying to gather as much information as possible before proceeding," explained Mordred. "Also, did you miss the part where Mukuro said it was Level 87?"

"We have so many here that are above Level 20 and we have Theseus who's Level 40, you're telling me that all of us combined can't take on one monster? And you're telling me that a monster that caused this much damage didn't leave behind any kind of trail in the mountain? Merlin!" Klein marched his way towards his former party member who was unable to make eye contact with him. "Are you really okay with just leaving Agil to die?! He's in mortal danger right now and we're here playing detective?!"

"We are risking much heavier losses by going in witho-" said Mukuro before he was cut off.

"We're talking about somebody's life here! You guys do remember that if we die in this game we die for real, right?!" yelled Klein as he silenced everyone around him. He looked straight into Merlin's eyes, "If Kirito was here, he wouldn't hesitate to go rescue him right now."

Merlin who had been quiet until now finally had enough. "And how many times has Kirito almost lost his life doing that, huh?! Just because we've been blessed with miracles after miracles, doesn't mean that way of doing things is right!"

"Don't you see?! We've always been in danger of the unknown and we'll continue to be, whether it be this Floor or any of the ones above us. We are all in mortal danger, whatever we do, the only way we clear this game as a group is if all of us, not just Kirito, is willing to put our lives on the line for each other!" Nobody dared to say anything, as they continued to watch in silence as the top players there debated what to do. "I can't force any of you to come with me. But know this, Agil has been putting his life on the line every single fight to protect us. To me…no, to us, he's family."

"I will come with you," said Theseus as he stepped forward. "Agil stepped up for us Athenians when he could have ran. I, Theseus, must repay the favor in full."

"I'll help as well," said Yoruichi, "there's still some stuff I can learn from him."

"Me too, Agil has saved my life more times than I can count!"

"I'll join you, I'm where I am today thanks to his help!"

As more and more people joined the rescue party, Klein turned back to Merlin one last time, "Come with us, Merlin. We need you."

"You can't! If this expedition fails, we are going to lose our best tanks and multiple high-Level players. We can't afford to lose our best mage as well!" exclaimed Mordred. "Mukuro, say something!"

"I stand by what I said before," said Mukuro, as Merlin looked to him for advice. "Without you here, there will be no member of the Council left in Athens. The unity of the group may be endangered." Mordred's eyes glowed as Mukuro supported him and enthusiastically nodded in agreement.

"Your logic makes perfect sense, and even though I desperately want to go, I can't think of a single good counterpoint…But I realized something just now, I don't need a good reason," said Merlin as she looked at both Mordred and Mukuro. "Going to save my friend. That in itself is good enough for me."

"You can-"

Before Mordred could interject further, Merlin finalized her decision. "You two will stay here and act as temporary leaders until either Kirito or I return. While you are here, you will look for clues as to why Agil was kidnapped. Once you find something, report it to us immediately." She walked up to Mordred, who was clearly frustrated at the decision and was struggling to keep quiet. "Mordred, what you and Mukuro have said make sense."

"Then why, why are you still deciding to go on this suicide mission?!"

"Mordred," said Mukuro as he anticipated what was about to be said next.

"Since no one wants to say it, then I will. Agil is going to die, if not already."

"You…" said Klein as he began approaching Mordred but stopped when Merlin put her hand out in front of him.

"You're right," said Merlin calmly, which shocked everyone around her. "He may already be dead. Or he may still be alive. This expedition may fail or it may not. You might find something here or you might not. Neither I or you know what the future holds."

"Yes, but we can make educated guesses at the most likely outcome."

"True, so then, what do you think are the possible outcomes?"

"I think there's less than a 1% chance you guys will be able to rescue Agil and there's at least a 70% chance that you will all die trying."

"Then to me, the 1% is worth risking for."

"That's not reasonable! Clearing this game without casualties? That's a naïve dream!"

The group was once again stunned silent by the reality that was imposed upon them. "Mordred..." said Merlin as she closed her eyes and calmly breathed out. "I will say this to you once, and this is for everyone here as well. If all of your actions are not done so that everyone can clear this game alive…then stay off the frontline." With that said, Merlin turned around and followed behind Klein, leaving Mordred silently clutching his hand in frustration.

"We should get back to looking," said Mukuro as he patted Mordred on the shoulder.

"You should have stopped her," said Mordred as he walked away with his head downcast. "She would have listened to you."

With only Mukuro left, and dozens of players looking to him for guidance, he decided to refocus on the task at hand. "Spread out and go to every location Agil has been in the last few days. If there are any locations that have a specific smell or if you find anything that might point to why he was targeted then let me know." He looked back at Mordred's back as he was walking away one last time before turning back to give instructions. Had he followed Mordred at that moment, perhaps he could have avoided the tragedy that would follow later…

* * *

"This is the list of all the places he has been in the past few days," said one of the mages as he handed Mukuro a piece of paper.

"Hmm, although the list is short, it's quite troublesome that he went to Mount Lycabettus. Thank you for your hard work." Based on the smell of each location, it would make the most sense for the Aegean Sea to be a prime suspect. But unfortunately, Agil did not spend that long there and after questioning some of the players that worked there, it doesn't seem like it was the right clue. What confused Mukuro, even more, was the fact that Agil was attacked by a beast of similar characteristics as the Chimera on Mount Lycabettus. If the Chimera wanted to kidnap Agil, then why didn't it do it there? By account, the group had managed to escape it by jumping off of a waterfall but with its wings, the Chimera should have been able to follow. Mukuro wanted to go to Mount Lycabettus and investigate first hand but it was already late and the only source of light left was the dim glow of the moon. Not feeling like sleeping just yet, he decided to go back to the Acropolis where the hoplites were still working on the Hadrian's Library clean up. Earlier that day, they had discovered Daedalus' body, and luckily, the old scholar was still alive and was immediately rushed to the infirmary where he was still resting.

' _Never a quiet moment in this world, is there?_ ' Mukuro felt a sense of melancholy as he looked at the remains of Hadrian's Library. The once proud symbol of wisdom and knowledge was now nothing but rubble. ' _Years of knowledge that will never be recovered,_ ' thought Mukuro as he picked up one of the books that were torn apart and shook the dust out of it. However, what came out of it was not only dust but a photo. Curious as to what it was, Mukuro bent down and picked up the photo. It was the picture of a man with his son, the man's age had begun to show on his features as lines creased his face from his smile and the son seemed to be about to hit the peak of his youth. Mukuro had never seen the son but one look was all it took for him to recognize that the father was Daedalus. He turned the book over and read the title, "Labyrinth of Crete…for my son Icarus…"

 _Drip_.

The sound of a single water droplet caught his attention and snapped him out of his thoughts. He had recently learned a few water-type spells and was now more attuned to it, similar to how Merlin was with fire. It was something that he alone would have heard; perhaps 'heard' wasn't even the right word to describe it. He had felt it through his affinity with water and that had manifested into something his body would comprehend. There wasn't a drought in Athens as there has been in Corinth, but there definitively wasn't any rain for the past few days. ' _Where is it coming from?_ '

 _Drip_.

He followed the sound of the water as if it was calling out to him. Enticing him to discover its source. ' _There it is._ ' Mukuro stopped as he looked around to see where the sound was coming from, but it was just more of the same destroyed building and books. Had it been anyone else, they might have stopped looking and shrugged it off as something they misheard. But Mukuro's curiosity was something that would not be denied, it was that curiosity that has made him into one of the top mages right now. The need to understand was something deeply ingrained inside of him and the chase for the unknown brought a smile on his face. ' _There's only one direction to look in._ ' His body began to glow a dim blue as the ground around him began to shake. ' _I do hope this works…after all, I haven't actually tested this yet…_ '

 _Drip. Drip. Drip._

"[Zone]...[Gravity Field]" The area around him lit up with a dim blue highlight, and the objects within the area slowly started to float. At first, it was only the small pebbles, but it was soon followed by bigger and heavier stones. Everything around him rose up, leaving only Mukuro unaffected by the reversed gravity. A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead as he strained his mana pool, ' _Still not here?_ ' Despite not having found anything, Mukuro kept up his [Gravity Field] and removed more and more of the rubble. His behavior was definitively something that would have been heavily reprimanded by Merlin, he was currently holding countless heavy boulders over his head with his mana alone. As soon as it ran out, the objects would come tumbling down, crushing whatever was beneath it. Yet, the more useless rubble he found, the more he was convinced there was something there.

 _Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip._

As his mana bar was reaching its limit, he began releasing the small pebbles that he was holding onto. The dirt and small rocks rained down from above, dirtying his hair and clothes. Then the bigger rocks started coming down, striking the ground that was mere inches away from him. His focus did not waver, as he continued to lift rubble from the ground. From the corner of one of the hoplites' eyes, he saw what Mukuro was doing and immediately rushed over to try and stop him. But right as Mukuro lifted the last piece from the ground, the grip he had on the rocks was let go. The avalanche of rocks fell from the sky leaving nothing under it unburied.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Actually updating on schedule? Is this really ProdigalSnake XD? Hopefully, you guys enjoyed this bi-week's chapter, feel free to leave any comments or constructive criticism you may have! Thank you for reading and I hope you have a good day/night!**

 **Response to Reviews**

 **Kiro: Always nice to see you leaving a comment after each chapter, thanks for the review! As for the SYOC question, the answer is a mix of yes and no. If you would like to see a certain character in the story, you're welcome to submit it to me through a PM, but I can't guarantee whether or not I will use that character. If that character fits well with the storyline that I have in mind, I may plug it in as an NPC or perhaps even a player, but honestly and realistically speaking, I'm probably not going to be using any submitted characters as main characters. I hope that answered your question.**

 **youknowwho: Monday morning.**

 **XiiiKakashi: Nice to see that you're still here, and thanks for the review! The plan is to write all 100 Floors! Hopefully, my motivation and dedication doesn't falter and I'm able to complete this enormous project. This is a big step for me as a writer since I'm pretty much writing an entire book if I do write out all 100 Floors so it's pretty exciting and daunting at the same time. As for how long in terms of word count, well…we are currently on Floor 3 with 87,000+ words so…**

 **Kirito: Thanks for the support, hope you enjoyed this chapter! The Character Cards are there so that people can keep track of the players' skills. The finer details, such as the stats, cooldowns, etc., are for people who are interested in it. It doesn't hugely affect the story, but it's there if you are a big fan of MMORPGs and want to know more about the game itself. If you aren't interested in that stuff, no problem, you can check-in to keep track of their Levels or skip them completely in the future. In the end, Character Cards Set will probably come out once every 40 to 50 chapters so you won't be seeing a lot of it. If you have any other notes for me, please point them out in the future as well, I very much appreciate the time and effort people spend to give me constructive criticism.**

 **Behind the Page**

 **-I know in canon Greek mythology there wasn't anything like the War of Gods, but like I said before, not everything in this story is going to be historically accurate**


	25. Man and Beast

**Chapter 23 – Man and Beast**

 _November 14, 2022 - Athens, Floor 2_

"Mordred! Mordred!" yelled one of the mages as he relentlessly knocked on the door.

"What is it?" asked Mordred as he groggily opened the door to his room. After stepping out from the group last night, he went and vented out his anger on one of the snake pits nearby. He had killed so many that the monster spawn was now on cooldown for spawns, completely exhausting his mana pool and causing him to collapse on his bed as soon as he got back. Kayaba had designed the monster spawn cooldown so that players with AoE (area of effect) skills or spells, like Mordred, wouldn't just sit in one place and grind out EXP, something that was common in MMORPGs and one of the most monotonous tasks faced by the players apart from the tutorial.

"We need your help! Mukuro got trapped under a pile of rubble!"

"Wait, slow down." Mordred didn't particularly like the guy, and he would even go as far to say that he was a little suspicious of his actions. That façade of his that seemed to entertain Merlin just made him dislike him even more. He never liked people who put on a front like that, it usually meant that they had something to hide. However, there was no doubt in his mind that Mukuro was indeed brilliant. Knowledgeable in seemingly every single area, it was something that Mordred could at the very least admire. So that meant there was no way that such a guy would somehow just randomly get trapped under a few rocks. "Tell me exactly what happened?"

"One of the hoplites said that he saw that there were rocks levitating over Mukuro as he was investigating something, and right as he was about to warn Mukuro, the rocks fell down right on top of Mukuro."

"Rocks don't just magically levitate…But I don't remember that there was a spell tome that taught a spell like that among the ones that Daedalus gave us." ' _Does that mean he somehow found a spell tome on his own? Or maybe Daedalus gave him one after he learned those water spells so quickly._ '

"That's not important right now! What is, is that we need to rescue him right now, he's most likely injured under those rocks."

"He's either dead or perfectly fine, I wouldn't worry abou-" But before he could go back to sleep to recover from the headache he had, he was dragged out of his room towards the Acropolis.

"Mordred…I didn't think you would come," said a girl mage as Mordred was dragged toward the place where Mukuro was buried. The girl had a petite build with shoulder-length black hair and a small mole right under the corner of her right eye.

"Well, as you can see, I didn't have much say in the matter," said Mordred as he shook off the guy dragging him. The force caused him to temporarily lose his balance, causing him to stumble forward a couple of steps. "Ugh…" He groaned in pain as he put his hand on his head, the headache was still there and all that running didn't help at all.

"You have a Mana Fever, don't you?" asked the girl in a worried tone as she approached him. "I thought I told you not to increase your mana pool like that anymore. Even the Professor said that it's too dangerous."

Mana Fever is a status effect that mages get whenever they completely exhaust their mana pool. It resembles the effect of a migraine, where the mage suffers from a throbbing headache along with being more sensitive to light and sound. Based on the mages who have gotten Mana Fever, it usually lasts between half a day to one day, and during that time, besides the physical effects, the mage's mana pool is also decreased. It was something that Mordred, himself, discovered when he learned that he could permanently increase his mana pool by using every last drop. Normally, a mage's mana pool naturally increases the more the mage uses and replenish it, however, if the entire mana pool is used, then the increase increases exponentially. It worked great at first, but Mordred began to experience headaches that got worse and worse. What the mages concluded was that the larger the mana pool, the worse the Mana Fever will be, thus, Merlin declared that anyone with over 1000 MP should be extra careful not to get Mana Fever.

"I'm fine, Sachi. And I wasn't trying to increase my mana pool, I was blowing off some steam after what happened yesterday…I just didn't pay attention to my mana pool, that's all." Among the mages, Mordred had the biggest mana pool. Not only did he abuse the Mana Fever mechanic a lot, he also invested nearly all of his attribute points into INT, which further increased his mana pool. In fact, the warning that Merlin gave was something that only applied to him since he was the only one who currently had over 1000 MP. Thus, he was currently suffering quite a lot from the headache that felt like a non-stop hammer that struck the same spot on his head. The sun shined blindingly and there was a constantly ring in his ear, causing Sachi's voice to echo within his skull. "Just show me where that idiot is buried and let's get this over with so that I can go home."

At the scene, there were a couple of hoplites moving boulders half-heartedly. ' _They must be thinking that this is a waste of their time, huh?_ ' thought Mordred as he observed them. The soldiers were able to move the smaller rocks but it was impossible to move the big boulders without the [Superhuman Strength] skill, which only Greek heroes have on this Floor. When the hoplites noticed Mordred approaching, they all began to chuckle as one of them said something in Greek. "Did I miss something?" asked Mordred. "What's so funny?"

"The mages said they were bringing someone who could move these boulders, but what are you going to do with those thin arms?"

"Has it ever occurred to you that I might be using magic? Actually, have any of you considered using something other than your arms, maybe some tools or equipment? Ah, this is making my headache worse."

"Magic is used by the gods, what you practice is witchcraft and your soul shall be collected by Hecate when you die."

"Wow."

"Mordred, play nice," said Sachi. "They've been helping us look for clues regarding Agil."

"Haven't we saved their prince's life twice? On top of that, we're running an errand for them in Sparta so that this nation doesn't get plunged into war. Is it unnatural for them to pay us back?"

"Tch." The soldiers clicked their tongues in frustration but they couldn't deny any of what Mordred said. "Then let's see you lift these boulders." Mordred smiled, knowing that he had won the verbal joust. ' _Now to shut them up for good._ '

"Wait," said Sachi, "isn't your Mana Fever going to get worse if you cast spells?"

"It's fine, I'm going to make believers out of them," said Mordred as he stepped forward. "[Spell Flux]" Pure blue light began gathering between his hands, creating a small transparent sphere. "Unfortunately it losses its form once it leaves my hand, it still isn't very complete yet." He carried the fragile looking orb up to the boulder and pressed it against the rock. The orb smoothly disintegrated into the large boulder, leaving behind a blue rune mark. Mordred then placed his hand on top of the rune mark, "[Essence Flux]" Blue vein-like lines sprouted out from the rune mark, covering both the boulder and all of the other boulders around it, leaving behind similar rune marks on each of them.

The blue lines and rune mark gave the inanimate rocks a life-like feeling as they dimly glowed with a heartbeat rhythm. "I would stand back." Deep blue light particles began to rapidly gather in between his palm, condensing into a mana orb that had a much stronger physical presence compared to the lighter one from before. Small blue sparks erupted from the orb from the amount of mana that was being compressed in that tiny space. "[Overload]!" As he slammed the mana orb into the boulder, blue lightning ignited from the veins across all of the rocks beneath him, instantly disintegrating all of the solid rubble and not even leaving dust behind. The audience was stunned silent, as not even the mages expected this level of destruction. ' _I might have overdone it,_ ' thought Mordred as he breathed out a sigh of fatigue, the hammer in his head had now turned into a drill that was digging right into his skull. ' _I'm never going to cast spells with Mana Fever ever again._ ' Everyone gathered around the newly created hole to marvel at the feat of destruction and to see whether or not Mukuro was still alive. However, to their surprise, there was nothing there except more rubble. "Like I said, he's either dead or perfectly fine."

"Wait, Mordred," said Sachi as she caught up to him as he walked away back to his inn. "Even if he isn't under that pile of rubble, we still need to find Mukuro."

"Why is everyone trying so hard to find him? He's a grown man, if he wants to be found he will appear. Plus, why would I know where he is?"

"Well…you two seem kinda close so I thought maybe…"

"We seem close?! Are we living in the same universe right now?"

"Yeah, I mean, both of you are guys who like to think through problems rather than act on emotions. You guys are Merlin's closest aids and I know both of you want what's best for the group."

Mordred stopped in his track, "You still think that after what happened last night?"

"You said what you said with good intentions, no one is going to hold it against you. If it makes it any better, there are a lot of people that thought that you were right…including me."

"Really? I thought you were a rather big fan of the Professor."

"I admire her, but she's human like the rest of us, she's not perfect."

"Alright, I understand," said Mordred after a brief moment of silence. "I'll help look for him once I recover from my Mana Fever. After all, he has been in charge of the investigation, it'd be a waste to redo all of the things he has done already."

"One more thing," said Sachi as Mordred was about to turn away. "Next time, instead of isolating yourself, you can come talk to me. We've been friends since we were kids, I'm here for you."

"Appreciate the thought, but let's be honest here, we were never that close. Hell, I don't even think anyone at school knew that we were childhood friends. Being stuck in this game together doesn't change that."

"That wasn't what you said that day after school."

Mordred turned away as he whispered, "I should have never said that…"

* * *

"We're here…" whispered one of the scouts to Klein, who signaled to the rest of the group behind him. The rescue group positioned themselves and watched the cave entrance from behind the cover of some bushes and trees. They had been lucky with their search; with the help of their rangers and scouts, they were able to pick up a trail that led them to the cave in front of them. As expected, it would be impossible for something as big as the Chimera to land without damaging the surrounding.

"What now?" asked Theseus. "If we engage it inside of the cave then we can restrict its ability to fly but at the same time, it also condenses the area where we could dodge."

"We draw it out," said Klein. "Our objective isn't to kill that thing, it's to save Agil. Once the Chimera comes out, we'll engage it and our scouts will go inside of the cave and grab Agil out of there. As soon as Agil is rescued, we pull out."

"How are we going to do that?" asked Merlin. "I'm an offensive mage, you know? I don't have any spells that can restrict its movements."

"I can take care of that part," said Theseus.

"I'll leave it to you then," said Klein. "Alright, let's do thi-" Right as Klein was about to give the order to go, a monster with the wings of a dragon landed right in front of them and let out a terrifying roar with all three of its heads. The Chimera used the same skill it had used when it assaulted Athens, and every member of the rescue group was stunned. However, just as the Chimera was about to approach them, the players all broke out of the stun and launched a counterattack. "Scouts, go grab Agil!" Klein bit his thumb and blood flowed out of the wound, "Roar my soul, [Ryujin Jakka]!" As he drew a line across his katana with his blood, the blood ignited enveloping his sword in a crimson flame.

Surprised that its [Threatening Roar] had so little effect, the Chimera reared its dragon head over and spat out a breath attack that burned so powerfully that it illuminated the area around them in its orange glow. Unfazed by the inferno that was in front of him, Klein continued his charge towards the Chimera. "[Enkai]" The flaming strike that was supposed to have reduced Klein to a pile of ash had its path bent away from him.

Wielding his sword with his left and gripping his wrist with his right for support, Klein jumped high in the air and slashed at the lion head of the Chimera. The blade ran across its face, leaving a deep cauterized gash. "[Hiryu Kaen]!" The cut then suddenly reignited as the lion head became submerged in crimson flame. The beast roared in pain as it released all three of its breath attacks while loudly stomping on the ground and flapping its wings, causing the earth around them to shake and a small whirlwind to form.

Despite its painful screams, the rescue group showed no mercy as Merlin extinguished the fire from the dragon's breath, turning it into thousands of small ember particles that immediately gathered underneath the beast, "[Pillar of Flame]"

"Rain down from the frosted heavens, [Ice Age]!" Raising his xiphos up towards the sky, the blue markings engraved on the blade shone brightly before transforming into a double-bladed polearm that was colored a cold blue. "[Frostfall]!"

The pillar of flame that came from the ground and the pillar of ice that came from the sky met in the middle, crashing into each other and squashing the Chimera that was caught between them. The beast came crashing down from the sky and lied there unmoving, half its body covered in frost and half of it burned. "D-Did we do it?" As if to answer that question, the Chimera slowly got up from the ground, immediately putting the players back on edge. The wounds that the players tried so hard to inflict, all began rapidly regenerating.

"Don't falter, we knew this wasn't going to be easy!" commanded Klein. "Support team recast [Blessings of Stendar]!" The reason they hadn't been stunned by the Chimera's [Threatening Roar] was due to this support spell that increased status effect resistance. They had battled around the goat head that spat out a disease breath attack and Merlin had been able to neutralize its dragon fire breath attack. Realizing that its three breath attacks were being countered, the Chimera decided to switch to its more natural talents. Aiming for the one that seemed to be their leader, the Chimera pounced at Klein with a burst of speed that was far too fast for him to be able to react to. Thankfully for him, they had the second best tank player in their party.

"[Mudwall]!"The ground in front of Klein rose in front of him, creating a makeshift wall. The beast easily smashed past it, but it had accomplished its task in reducing the Chimera's momentum. "[Oakflesh]! [Topaz Shield]!" Yoruichi leaped out in front of the charging Chimera, her skin was coated in thick oak bark and her arm braces were crystallized into a shield made out of purple topaz. ' _When fighting a foe stronger than you, never take the attack head-on…_ ' "Redirect it!" The shield bearer angled her shield so that the force of the impact rolled off to the sides, allowing her to deflect the monster's strike to the side. The Chimera's body flew past them by mere inches, allowing them to feel the wind draft as the body flew by.

"Now, Theseus! Restrain its movements!" ordered Klein.

"Return to your cold slumber, [Thousand Years' Ice Prison]!" Theseus tossed [Ice Age] like a javelin towards the Chimera who had crashed into the ground and was unable to react in time to the attack. The blade lodged into the beast's body and frost began to spread out from the wound. The Chimera tried its best to break the ice that was forming on its body, but no matter what it did, a new layer of frost would spread out from the wound and replace the old layer. As the monster became more and more immobile, it roared out one last time.

"STOP!" Suddenly, a shield-bearer leaped out in front of the Chimera and used his shield to knock Theseus' weapon out of its body, right before the frost overtook its last head.

"Agil?!" asked Klein who was confused by why his friend would protect his own kidnapper.

"That's enough, man and beast, we're on the same side now!"

* * *

 **Author's Note: In my recent reviews I've gotten some comment about how my OCs are OP and too perfect. Having my characters being called Mary/Gary Sues is a big deal to me because if it is true then it's something that I need to fix immediately. If you guys have any comments on my characters please do not hesitate to point them out but at the same time I ask that you back up your points with your thoughts. As always thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed the chapter and have a great day/night!**

 **Response to Reviews**

 **Silver-Tritium-Protractinium: Wow I did not know that, thanks for sharing that with me. I guess you're my trivia guy huh? That's the second time you've enlightened me XD Nice to see that you're still keeping up with this and thanks for the review!**

 **Kiro: Like I said before, this story isn't a SYOC, but I'm open to ideas that my readers may have. However, if I'm going to introduce another speed-based character then he/she needs to have their own flair. We already have a couple of speed-based character (Asuna, Irelia, Kirito-ish) so I don't think I will be introducing another one, sorry. As for Mordred, I may need to revisit/rewrite that scene, I wasn't trying to paint him as a drama queen but rather, I wanted to show the conflict between doing what's rational and doing what's human. Which of these two will give the players a higher chance of clearing the death game? Not gonna lie, I was secretly hoping someone would root for him :P Finally, your idea of numbers in names make a lot of sense and it's something that has never even crossed my mind before. However, what I'm trying to write an immersive Aincrad where you can almost not differentiate it from the real world (the NPCs, atmosphere, etc.) so I don't think it helps when people are walking around with numbers for letters in their name XD Sorry if it seemed like I just shut down all of your ideas but I rather communicate it rather than just straight up ignore it. As always, thanks a lot for reviewing and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **XiiiKakashi: Thanks a lot for the review and encouragement, hope you stick along for the next 87k as well! I play on the NA server as well and sure I would love to play League with you sometime, my IGN is Prophecy**

 **Ragy: Hey thanks for the review, and OMG THANK YOU FOR POINTING THAT OUT! FIXED!**

 **thewookie1: I'm honestly so happy that this was the 100** **th** **review, it absolutely perfect and I'm ecstatic that you completely understood what I was trying to do with Skrill's character and picked up on all the little hints I dropped. I was worried whether or not I was able to convey Skrill's background with my writing but I'm happy to see that at least one person got it! Moving on to your Lisbeth comment, I'm sorry but she's most likely (almost 100%) not going to appear later on in this story. If that's a turn off for you then that's unfortunate and I'll thank you for reading up to this part. The reason I'm not including Lisbeth is because, no offense, I don't see any value in her character. In the anime (which is the only medium I've seen of SAO), she was just another girl in Kirito's harem. All I know about her is that she's a blacksmith and she's Asuna's friend. These are not character traits that will help her stand out or be differentiated in this huge cast. Of course, I'm open to the conversation and if you can convince me that there's value in adding her to this story then I'll work it in.**

 **Guest: Thanks for all the review, hope you continued on after chapter 12! Now, you said a lot of stuff so I'll go through them one by one. To start off, I want to say that I don't mind the criticism but I would greatly appreciate if you backed up your points with why you thought that way.**

 **Jax is Gary Sue and Merlin is Mary Sue and they are the same character** **  
-I'm not really sure where you are getting this from, especially when at chapter 4 we haven't even seen Jax fight yet O.O  
-As for Merlin, literally one of the first scenes we saw of her in chapter 3 was her misusing her mana and putting the entire party in danger. At that point of the story, she only knew one spell which was [Fireball], so I don't see how she can possibly be perceived as OP.  
-As for the comment about how they are the same character, I don't see where you are getting that either. Merlin is indeed cool and calm most of the time but Jax is almost the opposite, he's goofy and reckless. That isn't even something that was revealed in later chapters but right away in Jax's introduction since he was more concerned about eating and drinking than someone barging in and starting trouble. Furthermore, their characters are further contrasted by how differently they reacted to Skrill and Bandit. Jax shrugged it off and Merlin got angry.  
-I will admit that Jax may be lacking in flaws right now (as of the current chapter) but Merlin is in no way shape or form a Mary Sue.**

 **Villains starting fights for no reason  
** **-I will admit that Skrill's early behavior wasn't very well characterized  
-As for Bandit, he represented how the players could have abused their Ranks. He crushed the drink because he thought Jax was disrespecting him. Very cliché, but I wanted that scene in there because I thought it was a great way to show both how goofy Jax is.**

 **Action scenes have a lot of breaks  
** **-I agree, I'm new to writing fight scenes so this comment was greatly appreciated. I'm hoping as I write more of them, I will gradually get better and better.**

 **OCs are all too OP and too perfect** **  
-I really am curious as to what made you think that, because I felt like the fights so far have been very balanced, requiring the effort of every member. No one member is single-handedly carrying fights (like Kirito did when he solo'd a boss with Dual-Wielding). Maybe we have different definition of OP, idk.  
-Not all of the characters have had a chance to be fully characterized yet so I guess at that point they just seemed like really good SAO players which I guess in some sense just portrays them as perfect. Since I'm planning for a long story, I didn't want to rush characterization but I can see why you saw them as perfect human beings at that point.**

 **You should have made different classes  
** **-At the time of your review, skill creation wasn't introduced yet so I won't blame you for that comment. As you read on, you should see the fighting-style of all the characters differentiate themselves. There may not be classes but you'll definitively see unique sets of abilities that fit the characters' personalities.**

 **Overall, I appreciate the reviews but if you are going to bash one of my characters that hard then you got to include why you thought that way. Calling an author's characters Mary Sues or Gary Sues is about as insulting as it gets when you don't back it up properly. However, if you can tell me why and your points make sense then that's when I, as the author, need to fix those characters.**

 **Behind the Page**

 **-Mordred's abilities are based off of Ryze from League of Legends**

 **-Klein's [Hiryu Kaen] is the move Zoro used in One Piece against Ryuuma; it translates to Flying Dragon: Fire Blaze, I felt like that was a bit of a mouthful so I kept it Japanese**

 **-one of the reviews said that I pause too often in action scenes to describe things and after rereading some of them I realized he was right, so I decided to cut down on the description of Theseus' spear; it's up to you guys' imagination for what it looks like but in my mind it was based off of Theseus' Sword from God of War (I know they call it a sword but it isn't really a sword XD)**


	26. A Parent's Grief

**Chapter 24 – A Parent's Grief**

 _November 15, Old Corinth – Floor 3_

"The sun rose today on Corinth, but it did not live to see it set," said Jax as he looked down on what remained of the city and its inhabitants.

"Is that…bad poetry or is it supposed to mean something?" asked Robin.

"I'm surprised Thanatos was nice enough to resurrect all of them after he killed everyone," said Irelia.

"Too bad he couldn't resurrect the city…" said Asuna. The giant crater left behind by Thanatos' strike has remained like a scar on the Earth's body. The citizens of Corinth might have all made it out of this event alive, but all of them have lost their homes and possessions. It was a depressing sight for all of them, watching all these people now without a place to call home and some with nowhere to go. "It's at times like these that I wished the NPCs weren't so human-like…"

"Kayaba did say that he wanted to create a completely immersive world, where it felt more like you were living a second life in a fantasy world rather than playing a fantasy-themed video game. Although the advancement of AI has been exponential in the last few years, this still would have taken hundreds of hours of work to get such minute details. If nothing else, we can at least say he was dedicated," said Kirito

"Sounds like you even admire him a little, Kirito," said Arthur.

"Well…he was my idol before, you know, this whole death game thing…"

"Better than having lifeless robots repeat the same scripted lines if you asked me," said Jax. "That would have creeped me the hell out."

"You know, while we are on this topic, I just realized something," said Kirito. "Ever since we hit the 2nd Floor, I have felt like the game is beginning to revolve around us."

"What do you mean?" asked Robin.

"Looking back, the 1st Floor was very similar to a standard MMORPG where the progression is very linear, you move from town to town as you Level-up, ultimately finding the Floor Boss. However, the moment we stepped onto the 2nd Floor, it has been one decision after another which could have led us down an infinite number of paths. The game has simply been adapting the world to the decisions that we make. The world revolves around us now, and it's our decision that shapes this world."

"What makes you so certain of that?"

"That day when we helped Theseus, we didn't have to. We could have just ignored it or could not have been there at all. So does that mean that we would have never been able to cross the Icarian Sea and beat the Floor Boss? No, I think there are a countless number of ways Kayaba has created for us to cross but since we helped Theseus that day and asked for the reward that we asked for, it led us down this path."

"Couldn't that have been scripted though? For example, if a player walks near that district then the event would trigger, which in a way guides the player towards that option," said Irelia.

"That's true, but what about this quest then? What if we go in and instead of negotiating for peace, we instead side with the Spartans?"

"Do you think that would even be a possible option?" asked Arthur.

"I believe so. Considering all of the interactions we've had with the NPCs, there doesn't seem to be any kind of restrictions whatsoever, which makes me believe that…the world engine of this game is capable of generating new quests and paths for us to clear this game."

"Is that not a good thing then?" asked Asuna. "That just means that our chance of clearing this game is never zero, right?"

"Yeah, that is indeed one of the positives but…that also means that we can close the doors ourselves in an infinite number of ways. For example, just now…we could be blamed for the destruction of Corinth, what's to say that the Spartans even negotiates with us at all at this point?"

"Are you sure you aren't looking too deep into this?" asked Jax.

"It was Kayaba's dream to make this world of his a reality. It isn't something that we can brush off, but at the same time, I can't say for sure that I am right. So for now, let's just play it safe. While it does make our path completely unpredictable, it does put our destiny in our own hands. We have the ability to dramatically increase our odds of survival, we have the ability to carve out the best path."

* * *

"What are you talking about, Agil?! Why are you standing on the same side as the monster who attacked us and kidnapped you?" asked Theseus.

"There are no sides here," said Agil as he looked toward the entrance of the cave, drawing the gazes of the other players as well. Out of it came a demonic dog with two heads and a snake as its tail, its aura was on a completely different level compared to the Chimera. While the Chimera was no doubt a fearsome monster, the thing that came out felt closer to a minor god. "These two here were just looking for their daughter, they don't mean Athens any harm."

"Those things can have kids?!" asked Klein, as his jaw nearly hit the floor.

"Yes, that little NPC girl that was with me. I believe she's the one they are looking for. We'll head back to Athens, find Leona and get them reunited. There's no need to fight anymore."

"What about the Greek men who were injured and Hadrian's Library, a monument that's been around for hundreds of years, that's now nothing but rubble?!" asked Theseus furiously. "How can Athens stand proud as a nation when we just concede to the whims and wishes of monsters?"

' _ **If I recall, none of those soldiers died, so consider us even after you've caused so many injuries to Chimera. As for that library of yours, I will restore it once we are reunited with our daughter.'**_

"I do not care to make deals with demons!"

' _ **The Moirai have plans for you, and it is not my place to intervene. But know, boy, that Moirai cares not for your city or its people. Slight me again, and they will know fear.'**_

"Your threats do not scare me!"

"Enough, Theseus. If all we need to do is find their daughter for them to restore all the damages they've caused and leave, then it's a good deal for us," said Merlin as she tried to talk some sense into the young prince. "This is beyond us now, you know this."

"Tch, do as you will, but I will have no part in this," said Theseus as he turned and walked away.

' _ **The young fool knows no fear. If only he could see what They have planned for him.'**_ Orthros then turned back to the rest of the players. _**'I have put my trust in you now, Agil. Do not fail me.'**_

"We won't."

* * *

"What do you mean someone took her away?!" asked Agil, his voice coming out a bit louder than he had hoped, flustering the two girls standing in front of him.

"Some hoplites came and said that they had found her parents, so we just handed her over to them…"

"But then again…the little girl did throw a big fit…Don't tell me those soldiers were bad people! Oh my God, I feel so bad now! I'm sorry!"

"That's impossible…Wait…the only other person that knew about Leona's situation was Daedalus…"

"Do you think he might be behind all of this?" asked Merlin.

"I don't know him very well apart from the few conversations we've had. What about you Merlin, do you think he is?"

"He was always preaching about using magic for good. It's hard to believe that he would harm little girls with it."

"Anyways, instead of standing around we should just go to the source. Those men might have been posing as soldiers. Let's go to the Acropolis."

Right as Agil was about to walk out of the door, someone called out his name. "Agil…" It was Mordred, who had just come out of his inn room upstairs. "I see the mission was a success." He then turned to Merlin and Klein. "I apologize for what I said before."

"No need for that Mordred, we've found the solution but now we have to solve the problem. Has there been any news of Daedalus?" asked Merlin.

"Daedalus was found a couple of days ago, but he seems to still be in a coma-like state in the infirmary."

"How has the investigation here been going?"

"We haven't found much," said Mordred as he paused for a little bit to mule over his next few words. "Mukuro is also missing right now."

"What happened?" asked Merlin with a calm voice, however, her mind couldn't help but go to the worst case scenario.

"People say he was crushed by rubble when he was carelessly investigating the ruins of Hadrian's Library. But as you know, that doesn't sound like him at all. If anything, he might have found a clue and is pursuing it on his own."

"Oh bullshit, we all know you two didn't get along well! Wouldn't be surprised if you killed him yourself!"

"What did you just say?"

"You heard what I-"

"Klein, that's enough!" said Merlin.

"This is the guy that suggested to leave Agil to die a couple of days ago, you're really going to defend him?!"

"Mordred has always had the best interest of the group in mind," said Merlin as she looked into Mordred's eyes. "You believe Mukuro is fine?"

"I do."

"Then I believe you. That guy is a lot of things, but he's not an idiot. For now, let us rest. We've been walking for the whole day; if Daedalus isn't awake right now then there isn't a point to go see him at the Acropolis. We can check up on him tomorrow, Orthros will understand." Right before she turned away, Merlin said, "And Mordred, what did I say about Mana Fevers?"

"It was a careless accident, it won't happen again," said Mordred immediately bowing his head. ' _I thought I hid the symptoms well!_ ' The players exited the inn, but from the sound of their footsteps, Mordred knew that there was still one person left. Without raising his head, Mordred apologized again, "I'm sorry Agil for suggesting to leave you. It wasn't personal, I just believed it was the choice that would ensure the least amount of causalities."

After a moment of silence, Agil patted the mage on the shoulder, "I understand. Merlin always said that you had a good head on your shoulder. Keep using it to help the group."

"Thank you."

* * *

A cloaked man walked hurriedly through the dark halls of the Acropolis, with just a candle lighting his path. He was far from the royal quarters, where the hall was lit with torchlight from the fire stands, toward one of the emptier wings. It had once been the royal library, but after Hadrian's Library was built, this wing had been set for further remodeling, once the crown had enough Cors. Though the budget, conveniently, always fell short whenever the discussion was brought up. Once inside the library, the cloaked man closed the door behind him and walked to the last row of bookcases. After adjusting the placement of a few books, a secret passage in the wall opened up, revealing a staircase that led underground. An old underground tunnel that was built for escape in case of emergencies, its existence now only known to the cloaked man. Right, left, left, and right. The man navigated the maze-like corridors in near darkness with ease, until finally arriving in front of two steel doors.

"[Unlock]." A circular rune appeared as he uttered the spell, glowing as his hand made contact with it. The steel doors opened by itself, slowly revealing the secrets inside. _Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip._ "Wh-What happened?!" Green liquid spilled out from glass containers of different shapes and sizes, a stench of death polluted the air and he could faintly smell a recently died out fire. "This shouldn't have happened…this place was-"

"This place wasn't supposed to be damaged, right?" asked a voice, his figure hidden by the shadows of the room. "I'm happy to see that you have recovered, Daedalus," said the voice as the figure stepped out from behind one of the broken containers into the candlelight. The small flame cast an ominous shadow on both of their faces.

"How did both of you-? What are you doing down here, Mukuro?! And what have you done?!"

"I was very impressed by how well this place was hidden. I almost didn't have enough time to break that last lock rune."

"[Chains of Heaven]!" Magic circles surrounded Mukuro, summoning golden chains that instantly bound his arms and legs. "I asked you what you have done?!"

"But not half as impressed by what you were hiding in here," continued Mukuro, ignoring his current predicament. "Tell me, were those humans or monsters that you were experimenting on?"

The chains tightened their grip as Daedalus' frustration became vividly visible on his old wrinkled face. "I'm going to ask you one last time. What did you do with them?"

"I killed them."

"You what?!"

"At first I released them from those glass containers, but they didn't seem to have the necessary life force to live on their own. They were in a sad and pathetic state, groaning inhumanly while crawling towards me. Begging me to put them to rest."

"ARGH! Do you know how many years of research you have just undermined?!"

"I do. I took the liberty to read through all of your notes before burning them. In fact, it helped me understand why you did all of this. It also solved the puzzle of Agil's kidnap and the attack of the Chimera. Did you really think you could turn him back?"

"I had already succeeded until you came along! What do you know of a parent's grief?!" Lighting cladded his hand as he walked up to the bound Mukuro. "You should have kept your nose out of my business," said Daedalus as he thrust his hand straight into Mukuro's body. The lightning cladded hand cut through the flesh and bone like a blade, but instead of blood, it was mist that flowed out of his body instead. "What is this?!"

"[Mirror Flower], the water spell tome you gave was quite lacking, but it did teach me the basics of water magic. Creating a spell of this level was not hard afterward," said Mukuro's voice as his clone faded away in a puff of mist. "[Chains of Heaven]" The same magical circles surrounded Daedalus and this time it was him that was captured by the same spell he had used.

"H-How?" asked Daedalus as his voice quivered. He had spent years just to create this spell and even longer in mastering it. How could a boy that had seen it but two times be able to cast it?

"Your understanding of Wisdom is quite lacking. Being able to learn spells faster is a perk, yes. However, that is only a fraction of what it does." Daedalus could hear Mukuro's voice behind and listened as his footsteps slowly approached him. "It opens your mind and eyes to how the world functions. The tiny mechanisms of everyday life, fitting together to create the great path of our destiny. It is like a jigsaw puzzle, and there is no greater joy than solving a good one. But unfortunately, the more clearly I see, the more pieces are missing. I have realized that this is an unsolvable mystery, an infinite game." Daedalus then felt a cold hand on his shoulder. "But, you, my friend Daedalus…I have solved your puzzle."

"Are you planning to kill me now?"

"Kill you? Why would I do that? We still need you to build the wings."

"You think I'm still going to help you after this?"

"I didn't think you were helping us to begin with. Fanning Theseus' hate for Sparta, you knew he was going to suggest something reckless to the negotiation group. You never expected us to be able to convince the Spartan, but you did want us to follow through with Theseus' plan. Then, you would simply shift the blame onto us while getting more time to do your research. But now, things have changed. You will help us because you want this back." Mukuro then walked into Daedalus' view and pulled out a notebook.

"I thought you burned all of my research."

"I kept your only success, the notes of your most recent experiment."

"You think that alone will be enough to convince me to ignore all that you've done?"

"I think that alone is enough to make you do anything. But I could be wrong, so if you would like to refuse my terms, I could burn this right now," said Mukuro as a small flame appeared in his palm. As the paper notebook approached the flame, the eyes of Daedalus faltered. "I will keep your little secret here. In return, you will keep us out of your politics with Sparta. You will build our wings and you will provide us with a detailed map of the Labyrinth which you've built." There was a pause to the demands, but Daedalus knew that it wasn't the end. "Lastly, you will give me [Athena's Tear]."

"No, that I cannot do. [Athena's Tear] has been Athen's national magical artifact. Even I do not have the authority to simply give it away."

"What if I told you I could bring back Minotaur's body, alive."

The statement sent a chill down Daedalus' spine and he felt a knot begin to tighten in his stomach. His throat went dry and for a moment there was only silence between the two of them. "If you can bring me back my son, I will give you [Athena's Tear]."

* * *

 **Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry for the one-week late update, it's busy season right now at my workplace and I literally just worked a 52 hours week so I hope you guys can cut me some slack! As always, feel free to leave any thoughts/feelings you have about the story, hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I wish you all a great day/night!**

 **Response to Reviews**

 **Kiro: Thanks for checking in again, it's always nice to see your review so soon after an update! Yeah, last chapter was 5k+ words but only, I think, around 3k was the actual chapter and the rest was my rambling in the Response to Reviews. Glad to see that you are enjoying the magic system since it's something that was a big change compared to the original. As for hand-to-hand martial artist, I do have something in mind for that, but it isn't fully fleshed out yet so it'll be a while before that character makes his appearance.**

 **XiiiKakashi: Ayy glad someone got those references, happy to see you dropping another review! As you've said, I believe all the characters have their own flaws and make mistake like a regular human being. Them being strong is a given since they are the top players of SAO but at the same time, every major battle they've done so far would not have been won if every single member didn't work together and that's the point I'm trying to push. No matter how "OP" they are, they will never be able to face Kayaba's challenges alone.**

 **thewookie1: Your review was really good so I decided to cover some of it in the story itself. Personally, I don't think it dips into the uncanny valley, rather I believe it would have been much creepier if they didn't act like humans. I don't know much about AI but I don't think it's that much of a stretch to imagine a world where AI was that advanced. As for your comment about AI being too free thinking, that was something that was intended. I think it breathes a lot of life into the story and makes it less linear and makes the choices the players have to make more impactful. If that crushed your suspension of disbelief, then I can't really change that. Although I didn't agree with most of what you said, you backed up your points with clear arguments and I really appreciate the discussion that it generates. As for the death of Lizbeth as a name drop, you are right. I did it because I wasn't planning to use her for the story so I thought it would be cool to let people know where she was.**

 **BlazingKeld: Thanks for the review, don't worry about not being good at analysis, I care more about how my readers honestly feel about the story! As for Merlin's character, for me she's someone who tries not to show any emotions due to her introverted personality. But she's still a human, and is very much an emotional person, so when two of her party members are in mortal danger and she is unable to help them, the fear and frustration inside of her comes out.**


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